


Love Like Oxygen (산소같은너)

by heartykeykeke



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Age Reversal, Artists, Comic AU, Daniel hyung, Fantasy, Helping Each Other, High School Students, Inspiration, Inspired by Extraordinary You, Inspired by Oh My Assistant webtoon, M/M, Portal Travel, Romantic Comedy, School Life, Seongwu drawing assistant, Sickness, Two worlds, age gap, awareness, chaebol, comic artist daniel, falling into a comic, inspired by W, magic tablets, making deals, mixing realities, teenage seongwu, webtoon verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:14:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 89,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24692116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartykeykeke/pseuds/heartykeykeke
Summary: Seongwoo seems to have it all – he’s rich, handsome, intelligent, multi-talented. He’s dealt with a lot for an eighteen-year-old though. Losing his parents, being controlled by his CEO grandma, unable to pursue a career in drawing. On top of being terminally ill. There’s not much in his life worth living for. His boredom and observation skills eventually cause him to think there’s something suspicious about his world; that he’s somehow vastly different.As his sickness takes an intense turn, Seongwoo calls for help. A person comes crashing down from a mysterious portal, saving the student just in time. This person has a similar appearance to Seongwoo’s first love and knows things that he couldn’t possibly unless he was a stalker. The student bombards the stranger with an endless stream of questions. Since he’s actually the artist who created the webtoon that Seongwoo is living in, Daniel cannot answer so easily. But one thing he must get across— he’s not a stalker!
Relationships: Hwang Minhyun/Ong Seongwu, Kang Daniel & Ong Seongwu, Kang Daniel/Ong Seongwu
Comments: 10
Kudos: 53





	1. Help, I can't breathe!

“Hey, Ongs~ Aren’t you thirsty? Here, drink up.”

“Neh? Hmm. Thanks.”

Seongwoo paused in his sketching to stretch out his arms and legs, then snatched the coffee—his one and only, the superior queen of drinks, caramel macchiato—from the desktop. His close friend since childhood who he was also happened to be engaged to at the insistence of their families ages ago was sitting in the school desk next to him. Whenever they had a break time, Minhyun stole the opportunity to bother or chat with him, often bringing him some snacks or sweet, flavored drinks because he knew that Seongwoo wanted them but was too lazy to go out and get them himself from the student stores. Minhyun knew his tastes well, like that he disliked water unless it was coming down as a misty drizzle, so he was the only one that he trusted to be his voluntary shuttler.

“It’s looking good. This is the grand fountain at the front yard, isn’t it?”

Seongwoo sipped, nodded and smiled at his half-finished sketch. Ever since he could hold a pencil, the one thing that he’d loved to do was draw. His parents pushed him to learn piano, violin, martial arts, kendo and various other hobbies to make him more well-rounded on top of all the various extra subjects he had to take. He rarely complained about the private academies or tutors, as long as they allowed him to continue taking his favorite, drawing classes.

As a senior in high school, Ong Seongwoo was multi-talented, handsome, well-mannered, extremely tall and slender, even intelligent with some of the highest grades in his year. Which was why he was known as the ‘Belle’ of the school. Everyone adored him and wished they could date him. However, they were friend-zoned permanently before they could attempt to get much closer to him because Minhyun existed.

Everyone in the school seemed to know somehow that they were affianced, though it wasn’t something they bragged about since they, like most of the other students from rich families, kept their privacy. Minhyun often stuck to his side like a bug, taking care of him, chatting with him, joking around and teasing, touching him in an intimate, overly friendly manner. Even without his fierce foxy glares which were most unnecessary but also characteristic of the guy who had been arrogant, unfriendly, and slightly possessive since they were kids, Seongwoo’s admirers were driven off, especially interested guys. No-one had dared to confess their love to him besides as a casual fan or close acquaintance who wished to be friends possibly during special days like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and his birthday.

That wasn’t because Minhyun was madly in love with him though. They both were simply friends that knew everything about each other, got along well, cared for each other. Maybe they did sort of like each other? Seongwoo wasn’t really sure about that sometimes; what others say got into his mind from time to time. It had been so long since he’d crushed on someone that he couldn’t tell what was the difference between that feeling and the good feelings of kinship, the strong amount of trust he had for Minhyun.

For example, Seongwoo didn’t mind the other touching him though he had an issue with anyone else. He appreciated being cared for, though he preferred not to be spoiled and babied in general. The other often made his chic, aloof, usually unamused and often appearing uninterested in anything self smile and laugh. He felt happy and comfortable with his friend, enough that they could hang out every day and he wouldn’t really care. In some ways, that made it sound like they were crushing on each other.

As he understood though, love as written in stories meant something more like flushing, getting shy, unable to stop thinking of the person when they weren’t around, having butterflies in your stomach or your heart racing whenever you saw them. Weird, cheesy, romantic things like that. Which wasn’t something that he’d ever felt for Minhyun but had once for someone else.

The reasons they were still going along with the whole ‘engaged’ thing although they were never dating or had romantic feelings was merely out of their loyalty to their parents, their wish to be dutiful sons. They were not people that were used to saying no to their parents’ demands. In Seongwoo’s case, his parents passed away, so it wasn’t like he would be punished for not going through with that promise but a part of him wanted to continue fulfilling their wishes to have the two families joined. In Minhyun’s case, his parents honestly thought they were genuinely smitten since their toddler days and neither of them found the moment or the courage to say that it wasn’t like that between them; that they were misunderstanding their closeness from long ago.

Just because they’d been an adorable, pretty picture together as kids, somehow they ended up here. Still engaged against their will though they were adults going to graduate within the year. When they were nothing more than bros.

“Seongwoo, it’s time to take your medicine,” Minhyun interrupted Seognwoo explaining about his current masterpiece when an alarm from his phone sounded.

Seongwoo grimanced and then sighed as Minhyun took his pill box of his pencil case and forced a handful of small colorful pills into his palm.

“You have to. It’s dangerous if you don’t take them regularly on time. You don’t want to pass out and end up in the hospital again, having to skip your drawing class, right? Come on now, take them. You can have all the coffee you want with it this time. I won’t push you to drink water, so today let’s take them without being fussy, hmm? For once, Ongs~”

“Fine.”

The arrogant, dashingly handsome brunette prince that made their school uniform look like it belonged in a high fashion catalogue reluctantly gave in with a sulky, annoyed pout, knowing the second most handsome chaebol in their school wouldn’t stop pestering him. He popped the pills in his mouth, whining like a tortured puppy at the bitter taste, then took the drink Minhyun offered and sipped greedily until the disgusting aftertaste was completely overcome by the heavily sweetened caramel syrup.

Just like with where they hung out, what they ate when they went to a restaurant, and about the details of their relationship publicly, Seongwoo let his friend take the lead as he was a capable, commanding sort of person. He on the other hand was more inclined to prefer coasting in the middle, going with the flow, neutral about most anything. If it wasn’t related to things he really liked such as puppies, sweet drinks, Bruno Mars, and drawing, he had the emotional range of a teaspoon. He was famous for not having much expression nor caring half a second unless he was forced to for an exam in their acting classes. Basically, he was perfect, but he was a robot.

People seemed to prefer him that way, found it charming instead of off-putting. His chic and calm attitude, his arrogant, blank expressions, only speaking when spoken to except for with teachers and Minhyun was fitting for the way he looked and his elite, aristocratic status. Beautiful, cool, mysterious, multi-talented, intelligent, unreally handsome, charming in a quirky way, admirable in many ways but slightly unapproachable. Fangirls went wild those rare times that he smiled, usually only around Minhyun if he was cracking a joke or teasing him. Then there’d suddenly be a surplus in the number of photos of him on the school community blog.

His sickness was another reason that Minhyun was stuck to him like a burr to fabric. In middle school, he’d been told that he had a permanent, serious issue with his lungs. Sometimes he couldn’t get enough air into them, which affected his blood circulation, resulting in him fainting. Due to that, he wasn’t allowed to participate in any laborious activities. Ever since the first time his fainting spell happened, Minhyun had been greatly concerned about him, hanging around him more often, switching to his school so they could walk together, carrying whatever was handed to him. It was the reason that they were in many of the same classes throughout high school and why Minhyun did caring things for him that made him look like a doting boyfriend such as carrying his bag or helping him up and down the stairs.

For a long time, Seongwoo had been uncomfortable with this and as a result with how their family and students misunderstood their relationship, but hadn’t said it because he knew that Minhyun was just trying to be a good friend. He was planning to break off the engagement though, someday, somehow. He didn’t think it was right to string their parents along, hoping for something that wouldn’t likely happen, as well as he felt guilty for blockading such a nice, perfect person like Minhyun from finding his true love. Although he wasn’t much of a believer in romance, it didn’t seem healthy to be married to someone you weren’t in love with. He was determined to do gather the courage and break things off at least before they went to college because that was the best time for them to meet new people.

After reluctantly taking his pills, Seongwoo went back to drawing, continuing to sip on his drink with a slight smile that showed he was on the verge of being extremely happy. He knew that people were gossiping and squealing over the handsome pair of friends at the front of the classroom. That would be of course because Minhyun was doing what he usually did. Hanging on his shoulder, staring at him with a silly grin as if he were in love, feeding the fangirls’ fantasies about them being a cute couple.

“Stop teasing me. It’s annoying to be tagged a hundred times just trying to check the puppy lovers page I like on FB, seriously. Why do you enjoy feeding their imaginations so much?”

“Hmm, I dunno. It’s amusing. They’re so easy to get worked up.” He chuckled evilly, then he leaned in and blew on Seongwoo’s ear, his pursed lips just a centimeter away.

The student shivered, his cheeks and ears splaying with red. “Yah, don’t!” he hissed, jabbing him in the stomach with his pencil butt.

Minhyun cut off his laughter to groan while the girls excitedly squealed and giggled behind them.

“Case in point. I don’t want to stop though. I like to play around like this, you know. Come to my home for dinner, Seongwoo-yah. My parents said they miss you. They wonder if you are about to break up with me because I tease you too much. I’ve had an earful of nagging all week.”

“Ha, they know you well. You always tease me. Such a jerky friend. I’m not sure. I’ve got homework…”

“You can do it at my house. I’ll do your math for you since you hate it the most. Ongie, please come over and join my family for dinner. They’d be so happy to see their son-in-law.”

Seognwoo huffed and glared at him in irritation. He seriously hated it when conniving, foxy Minhyun craftily used his weaknesses against him to get him to do things that resulted in this whole fiancé act continuing on. Sometimes with the way he instigated and brought it up unnecessarily he wondered if Minhyun wanted it to continue for some strange reason. What Minhyun had kept secret for many years now was the fact that his friend’s suspicion was exactly right. He did whatever he could to keep Seongwoo stuck in this fake relationship, hoping that eventually he could get Seongwoo to change his mind. It wasn’t that he had romantic feelings. He just thought it was beneficial to have their powerful families in alliance and wanted to make sure Seongwoo was happy and well during the rest of his lifetime which could be short. It was sort of a mix of something like pity, responsibility, and ambition. Minhyun was nothing if not opportunistic and business-oriented.

“Whatever. I’ll go, just stop bothering me. Do your homework or something. The fuss they’re making because of you is distracting,” he snapped.

Minhyun chuckled, lifting his hand off the prickly boy’s shoulder obediently with an innocent expression, a fake one. There wasn’t much nice or pure about Minhyun, anyone who got to know him understood that fact clearly. Especially Seongwoo who had known him for most of his life. He wasn’t a terrible guy but he wasn’t really a good guy either.

“What happened with the last contest you entered? Did you tell your grandma you won first place? If you did, she might realize that you’re extremely talented, enough to pursue your passion seriously. She’d probably stop being biased and blocking you.”

Minhyun took out a textbook though he barely pretended to read, randomly flipping through the pages every couple of seconds merely to appease Seongwoo. The one sitting by the window stopped glaring and returned to sketching a patch of grass underneath the fountain. This time around, he was too troubled and irritated to smile even slightly which made his sharp profile all the more fatally stunning that some girl put her phone on Minhyun’s desk in order to get a close-up of it, practically drooling.

“Don’t get me started. I wouldn’t dare let her know that I spend my time on anything she doesn’t consider ‘productive’, meaning connected to fostering the company’s success. Unless I’m drawing her beloved kimchi to use as promotion, she’d probably tear it up and flush it down the toilet. First place or certificates don’t matter unless I get it in something that benefits the company in some way.”

Seongwoo’s family had sold kimchi for generations while Minhyun’s family business was airlines, travel, and tourism.

“Hmm, that’s sad but probably true. She’s really stubborn and cranky.”

“Yeah, that old bat is really something else. I showed my uncle though. He had it framed so I could hang it up in my room. He seemed really proud of it. I suppose that’s still something.”

“Yeah, that’s good. At least someone in your family is supportive. He knows you’re talented and allows you to keep pursuing the arts.”

“He told me that if I wanted to go to an art school, he’d find a way to fund the classes without Grandma knowing. But I don’t know. I can’t approve of living like that. Being indebted, sneaking around, going behind my Grandma’s back using her hard-earned money while she thinks I’m studying business. It’s senseless; unlikely that I could hide it forever. Eventually she will find out…”

“And then she might just kick you out for good and cut you off. Yeah, that’s a concern. It would be hard for someone like you to work blue-collar. But, you know, in the case you ever have a serious confrontation with her, our place is always open for you. You can stay there while you study art. There’s no need to study something that you don’t like because you feel you have no other choice. I can support you, at least give you a place to stay and food in your stomach.”

Seongwoo had a dream to become an artist but his grandma wanted him to become the owner of their Kimchi company once his uncle retired. Although he was almost professional level great at drawing landscapes and buildings and won a large number of contests that proved his talents, someday he would likely have to quit that and take over the executive position as the head of their family company, spending every day in the office at the top of those fancy buildings he currently enjoyed drawing.

Except for Minhyun, their peers had laughed at Seongwoo when he stated that his plan for the future was to draw for a living. Being that he was a chaebol born on top with a golden spoon who had his entire life planned out for him. He was permanently sick and he even had a famous, wealthy fiancé that liked to care for him on top of the fact he was already rich. No one understood why he would search out some difficult mainstream career that paid little and risked his health when he didn’t need to.

Minhyun and his uncle were the only people that had encouraged his artistic hobbies and pursuing his dreams, saying that whatever Seongwoo wanted, they would support him and be there by his side, that the only thing that mattered was that he was happy during his lifetime because it might be limited. Seongwoo didn’t like the idea of being baggage to Minhyun who had his own large-scale dreams to chase, often busy with studies and student council activities as well as his modeling. He wished to live his own life as soon as possible, but he couldn’t simply leave his house with his sickness. He couldn’t afford the medicine and surgery if he collapsed, not on top of his own living expenses even with his savings. He couldn’t ask Minhyun to house him and take care of even that, no matter that he had the expenses and his parents might be willing since they were fond of him as if he were their second son. He wasn’t that sort of person; he had pride and a conscience.

For the moment, he was stuck at an impasse, unable to go confidently down the path expected of him and lacking the funds to break away from his family to go down the path that he wanted. Because of this daunting conflict, every day that graduation drew nearer he was frustrated which affected his studies. The only thing that gave him a sense of peace and calm was drawing, the movement of the pencil led on paper were his healing and escape.

Minhyun used to help his moods, though these days not so much because of the whole fiancé fiasco he knew he needed to sort through before the adults set a date for their actual marriage, which might happen once they graduated knowing how rich people’s minds often worked. Knowing that he needed to officially break off their engagement which would hurt and disappoint Minhyun’s parents was another nagging worry prickling the back of his preoccupied brain. It annoyed him more and more these days when Minhyun acted like they were dating just for his own amusement.

“What a beautiful day. On days like this, I am thankful simply to be alive. Ah, how nice~ Can you see this Mom and Dad?”

Seongwoo closed his eyes and spread out his arms, spinning joyful circles amongst the gentle gusts of wind blowing his hair and the thin cardigan he wore over his uniform. He’d told Minhyun that he wanted to take a walk in the nearby park area, cutting their usual lunch date short. On clear, warm, not dusty days such as this he liked to go there because it was fairly vacant. Being around nature and void of the sounds of people chattering, arguing, or joking around was just what he needed when his brain became to murky to deal with. He could only stand being social so much in one week as well. He much preferred peace and quiet, talking to animals or himself if at all.

Parks reminded him of his parents. They’d often escaped their house to explore nature at various parks, rivers, and mountains. It was one of their regular family activities. They’d luckily been able to meet their work, class, and activities schedules to visit a park full of wild roses. That was just a couple of days before their accident.

Suddenly, for no apparent reason, his chest ached and his throat closed up. It felt as if some invisible force were crushing his lungs from outside. It was incredibly painful, sending him into a frenzied panic. He collapsed, gasping for hair and panicking. It was strange because he’d never had an attack outside of school where there were no people to rush him to assistance. Maybe it was the combination of missing his parents, recalling how he lived and did those activities they loved before all alone, how he only had his uncle and Grandma left in his family, and all of the zealous spinning.

He grasped at the edge of a wooden bench and tore at some blades of grass, dirty digging into his finger nails from the cut roots. He was terrified and gasping for breath. His short, uneventful, predictable life felt precious as it flashed before his eyes. He regretted those times when he felt like he wished the sickness would suddenly take him away from the monotonous, lonely, dull life he detested.

“H-help, any…one… he…lp…” Seongwoo choked out, tears stinging his eyes, praying for a miracle to happen.

He struggled to stay alive any second longer that he could until help found him. He fought to get any semblance of oxygen into his lungs through his gaping mouth and tightly squeezing throat, attempting to go to a place of calm and get his heart beat slowed a bit which would help. For the first time during a spell, he felt as if he were truly going to die. A reel containing the highlights of his life flashed before his eyes and only then did he realize that somehow it all seemed so much emptier and more meaningless.

Was that really all he’d done with his 18 years alive? Wasn’t there something he could have done, even a small daily habit, that was more meaningful? Besides those times drawing, had he truly lived a satisfying life? Could he go saying that he’d been happy?

No, he couldn’t say that looking at himself in his memories. There were few times that he’d genuinely smiled or felt excited about something. There were not many times where he thought life was enjoyable. It always sort of seemed like a troublesome bother he was slugging through out of obligation after his parents were gone and his grandma started to control his life, causing him to act like a wire-connected puppet.

There had been several times in the hospital or after an argument with his grandma that he’d wished that his sickness would take over and end this miserable, repetitive life of his so he wouldn’t have to struggle through the routines daily, attempting to maintain polite relationships with people he hardly cared for, forcing himself to be sociable when he didn’t feel like it, never knowing what to do about his future, struggling between his desire to be filial and to be independent. However, when the time actually came to say goodbye to his current unlikable self, Seongwoo was scared, regretful, and not ready to give up. He desperately wanted to live another year at least and see what the future would hold, hoping he might find a meaningful purpose in his life, or at least something that would make him so happy that continuing to live on struggling through the difficulties of adulthood would feel like a blessing instead of a punishment.

“Let me live longer, please…” He weakly pleaded to who he didn’t really know with his eyes closed, body gone limp and still as darkness and helplessness swept over him.

That was when he heard a strange sound he’d heard a couple of times before, though it came much clearer than ever before. It was something similar he realized now that it was fully silent to the turning of a page in a book. He had once mentioned one of the strange things about the world they were living in to Minhyun, but after his clueless, judgemental reaction, Seongwoo realized that he sounded completely crazy and it was probably a figment of his overactive imagination. Since he’d been young, he tended to overthink and believe in things that none hardly ever did such as the supernatural, alternate realities, and spirits controlling the universe. He enjoyed watching/reading mysteries and fantasies, thinking about how their might be different worlds out there and solving problems.

Something about that moment made him certain that he’d been right in his doubts; that their world indeed wasn’t normal and that people were being controlled by someone somehow. Even his unnamed sickness and attacks out of nowhere didn’t make much sense when you thought about it. Some things reminded him of how a dream world works.

Especially when the next thing he knew he was back in class, perfectly fine without any memory of how he’d gotten there. If he’d had that sort of terrible attack, he should be either in a morgue or a hospital bed right then. However, he didn’t feel the least bit ill. There was not even a faint aching, tight feeling in his chest. Checking his pill box, medications hadn’t increased in variety and amount like they usually did after an attack. Not a uniformed soul looked at him in concern or asked him if he was alright.

The students were simply quietly doing their assigned reading, some watching the class president and designated class bully/rebel arguing in the hallway in front of the slid open classroom doors. Seongwoo observed them carefully, wondering why it seemed their voices were extremely clear and the rest of the classroom quiet, as if they were main characters in a play and others were merely soundlessly acting like they were busy students. How strange it was when he thought about it that not a single person was having a conversation that would even subtly drown out their talk, nor was anyone coming in and out of the classroom, not even the teacher though it was past time for classroom to start. How strange it was that they were glowing and attracting attention as if there was a spotlight over their heads.

Even stranger, as soon as they stopped their argument and stomped back to their desks with most of the class watching them as if they were incredibly interesting, only then did the teacher appear as if out of nowhere at the front of the class. Seongwoo had blinked and heard that faint page flipping sound right before. It was as if he simply appeared there out of thin air, not needing to walk around the classroom. When the bewildered student looked down, he was holding a pencil which he’d sworn just a moment ago had been tucked behind his ear. Just as he had no memory of the teacher walking through the classroom door, he had none of moving the pencil or jotting down the page half full of notes about the Korean War. He’d taken off his cardigan, folded it up and set it on the windowsill as well as if he’d been feeling hot. The time on his Rolex said it was approaching lunch time.

“Huh, what’s going on…” he muttered, staring quizzically at his surroundings which made absolutely no sense.

“Break time, yes~”

Daniel tossed down his stylus next to the tablet as if it had offended him, then stretched his clasped hands out above his blonde, shaggy mop of a head. The stiffness and stinging sensation of sinewy tendons in his arms pulling uncomfortably from hours of drawing while sitting in his office chair made him groan.

“If only I had an assistant. These parts take hours. Just too many meticulous, repetitive details.”

He’d just finished touching up his drawing of the outside of the private school that would be the start of the next scene in his ongoing webtoon about a very intelligent, hard-working but rather poor girl with a scholarship and feisty attitude entering into a school for the elite, privileged, and snobbish future leaders.

The young artist enjoyed drawing people and creating storylines, but one thing that he’d never really enjoyed was doing the research and copying the desired affect for things such as landscape and buildings. They were boring, hard on the fingers, and time-consuming but unfortunately necessary for readers to be able to delve into the story, for it to be realistic and visually pleasing. It wouldn’t be so bad if he wasn’t so slow because he had a hard time drawing straight, proportional lines and nature.

He wanted a new assistant but none that he’d interviewed thus far seemed fit to work with. He preferred a pretty or cute, kind, friendly, hard working person that was willing to work in his office because he disliked communicating through technology. They needed to be alright with long, weird hours too because that was just the nature of the job with the impossible weekly deadlines. He used his hands enough as it was with his work. This sort of job was perfect for a homebody nerd like himself. He rarely had to go out. He could skip on showers and never wear pants if he didn’t feel like it. His breaks were chosen by himself whenever he felt like it, as well as his work and napping hours. He usually slept in the afternoons and worked at night through dawn because his creativity just seemed to work better that way.

After eating ramen for a late lunch, he was feeling bored but didn’t want to get back to work. Considering how long it had been since he’d relieved his stress as he sometimes did when he felt there was nothing else better to do, he went onto a porno website in incognito mode. Although the girls were pretty and the storyline was interesting and sensual, when it came down to the nitty gritty of the hardcore action though, he couldn’t keep his dick hard no matter how firm he gripped or fast he pumped.

“No good again, huh? I’m not even thirty years old yet, why do I have issues staying erect. This guy is either super picky or just sick and weak. Or maybe normal stuff just isn’t spicy stuff anymore? Or is it that it just wants the real thing? Damn, how long has it been since my last girlfriend anyway…”

He’d just given up yet again on his fapping session and wiped off his hands with a wet tissue, laying back in his computer chair and staring at his drawing tablet. A pixelated, blackish circle with fuzzy edges appeared in front of him, making zappy noises. It was floating in the air ominously in front of his face, reminding him of a black hole. He leaned back, terrified that it would eat him. After closing his eyes and shaking his head, the formed portal didn’t disappear. Rather, a pale, long-fingered, elegant hand attached to a dainty, white dress shirt covered arm slipped out, reaching towards his throat.

“H-help…” a weak, shaky voice echoed from inside the pixelated, spinning mass.

“W-what? Help you how? Hey, who are you anyway? Why are you grabbing me?!” The comic artist squelched out as his collar was roughly snatched and the arm harshly yanked. Since he was taken off guard and the slender arm was surprisingly strong, he ended up falling shoulders and all into the hole.

The first thing Daniel noticed after struggling to his feet was a familiar setting. It looked as if he’d tumbled into the park that he’d designed based off Central Park in New York City, or the photos that he’d come across during his research of it anyway. He’d been looking for something sophisticated and naturally beautiful, unlike their parks which were decorated with toys, character statues, photo zones, and food vendors to attract more visitors since Koreans weren’t all that fond of simply strolling through nature unless they were much older. The next thing he noticed was a uniformed boy coughing, clutching onto his arm almost painfully.

“H-elp, sir…hospital…quick…can’t breathe…” the student rasped out, sounding on the verge of death.

His hand was shaking and he was alarmingly pale. Dark, rounded eyes bugged out and thin, wavy lips parted, gasping for breath, sweating profusely and white as a ghost, his lips almost grey-ish blue couldn’t hide one fact that Daniel noticed instantly. Even at a glance, he was stunningly handsome, almost beautiful though it was rare for him to apply that to a man. His features were soft yet prominent, Asian yet somehow exotic, his fair skin smooth and flawless, his eyes large and as black as midnight, he was slender but not shapeless and he seemed incredibly tall in a proportionate way like models were. Even in this miserable, sprawled state, he had this classy, sophisticated aura about him as if he were born elite.

Something about the boy seemed nostalgically familiar, as if he’d seen him often before but looking a bit different. He couldn’t place his finger on it. Until, that was, he had the fainted student resting on his back, rushing to find him help because he sounded like he was suffering. He noticed a golden crest on the cuff of the boy’s shirt sleeves which matched the large emblem attached to the building he found he was carrying him towards. It hit the artist then that he’d literally just been drawing that building. It was the private school in his story. That area they were in was THE park. The uniform the student was wearing was one that he’d designed based off of mixing uniforms in Thailand and various private schools in Europe. It sort of resembled a business suit, just a bit more casual and preppy. Comfortable but classy. Much better than the traditional, plain uniforms Koreans used.

Daniel shook his head, then with a puff of air hiked the thin, surprisingly light boy up higher around his waist, gripping his slender slacked legs firmly so he wouldn’t fall off. The boy was honestly difficult to carry, not because he was heavy but for the sheer length of him. He was way past the age and size to be breezily carried around on anyone’s back. Anyone weaker or smaller than himself would have crashed to the ground attempting it.

“So, this is one of my characters then? I’ve fallen into my own made-up world? I didn’t draw a scene like that recently though. So, does that mean that…this world continues on in the spaces between the scenes I draw…? Damn, this is some mind-warping Inception level shit. Hopefully, I’ll wake up and learn this is all a crazy dream.”

He didn’t have much time to dwell on these ideas at the moment. Dream or his story, there was a person extremely ill and needing immediate assistance. He had a good idea of who it might be, seeing as there was one side character in his story that was handsome, tall, sickly, and enjoyed hanging out in the park.

After asking some curious, gaping students passing the halls on their way to class inside the building, he managed to find his way to the nurse’s office. It was also vaguely familiar to him. He’d drawn it a couple of times for when Seongwoo had a sudden fainting spell, the more minor ones which might be caused by unexpectedly having to exercise. As if by some miracle just as the plot he’d written for them, Prince Charming but Calculative Minhyun appeared to rescue his slightly more beautiful, dainty friend, the chic and often silent, Prince Cool and Artistic.

Daniel recalled that most of the time he’d drawn the famous best friends in this room or their classroom, sometimes elsewhere. Daniel didn’t recall drawing his characters quite this handsome though. Minhyun’s personality was different as well. The person that he drew besides in his interactions with his close friend was nothing short of polite and kind to almost everyone else as long as they weren’t openly flirting with Seongwoo, part of his up-bringing and the importance he put on maintaining a decent image and reputation. To Minhyun, every interaction was a future business opportunity he made the most of. The person he was faced with in that nurse room though shot chilly, accusing glares at him and spoke blunt, informally, and rudely as if Daniel was the cause of Seongwoo’s collapse, some criminal.

After barking about who he was, why he was there, and what he did to his friend, he looked at Seongwoo in a more caring, tender way, gently brushing back his feathery bangs. Seongwoo was by breathing normally, seemingly asleep, lying still in the bed. His face was no longer as white as a sheet.

Thankfully, the nasty storm of a spell passed on its own instead of needing a respirator. He would live to spend another day in school. They both relaxed with a rush of relief.

“I’m nobody important. I was just passing by the park to get a coffee on campus. I saw he collapsed on the ground and he grabbed me, asking for my help. I just brought him here since it’s closer than the hospital. It would be cruel to let a student in need be.”

“And what exactly did you think a school nurse could do? He has a serious condition. Left without proper air getting into his lungs, he could die in only a matter of minutes. It would have been better if you called an ambulance. Forget it, he’s fine now at least. That’s the only thing that’s important. I’ll take care of the rest of his treatment. Thanks anyway,” Minhyun answered cliply, sounding more like he was scolding him than feeling grateful.

He turned his back coldly on Daniel, double checked Seongwoo’s condition with the nurse, brushed his head tenderly once more, then went out to make a phone call to their doctor. He paused at the door jam as if on afterthought, foxy eyes narrowed in a fierce glare.

“I have to go out for a bit. I’ll come back with the doctor. No one else is around, so watch him for me,” he ordered a moment later, then closed the door, leaving only two people in the room.

Dumbfounded, Daniel had merely nodded agreement. It was rare for Minhyun to willingly leave Seongwoo’s side in a time of need, so it must be important. Was it possible that the situation was serious? Or was he over-reacting because he got scared?

He sure seemed territorial or jealous there for a moment, which was weird. Though he’d written that they were engaged since children, it was not willingly and according to the side-character plot they both only thought of each other as friends, not romantically. Though that of course was the opposite of what all their shipper fans thought.

Just as it seemed things happened that he hadn’t planned, was it also possible their feelings or personalities were different or changed in between the panels he drew?

Daniel watched the cross guy with the regal aura and intimidating good looks leave, biting his tongue from spilling out that he one, was no underling servant to be ordered around, and two, that he knew everything about them there was to know such as their likes, dislikes, family, and past. Because they were HIS characters.

He wasn’t all that worried now that the shock wore off because he knew something Minhyun obviously didn’t. Seongwoo’s condition wasn’t as serious as everyone acted like it was. He’d basically just made up the illness, never giving it a specific name or giving details of the pills he took every day. He’d had some surgeries on his abnormally small ribs when he was younger to allow him to breathe better, which allowed him to go to school on a daily basis and his attacks to be minor and infrequent. Every here and there if he strained himself he had difficulty breathing again, sort of like an asthma attack. The worst-case scenario, he just fainted and needed some sleep or an oxygen mask, then he was fine. Once he was still and relaxed, his ribs expanded, no longer contracting his weak lungs.

It wasn’t a serious, real sickness that he’d written came without any unexplainable reason. He’d made a student terminally sick just so that there was a reason for the polite but unattached class president Minhyun that the heroine had a long-term, one-sided crush on to care for him, showing a softer, sensitive, more human side. Also, so that readers would think about how lucky they were to be healthy at a young age because not everyone was. To encourage them to be more active and enjoy their life while they’re still healthy, not only stressing about their futures.

That part of his story was as randomly made up as the character was himself.

Daniel sat in a fold-up chair next to the bed, recalling how the adorable but pitiful side character Ong Seongwoo came to him. When he was a teenager, there was this idol turned actor named Muyoung that his mother was obsessed over. She had tons of old magazines with him on the cover still lying around the living room. It was also the first man he’d ever thought was genuinely cool. He’d practiced drawing male characters because he had the best sort of features for comic characters.

It had been almost a year since he’d randomly decided to create a character similar to those old drawings he kept in a peachy folder, being a sort of hoarder type because who knew when those past sketches and ideas might come in handy for inspiration of his current works. The reason that Seongwoo looked like an actor was because he was actually designed after one, just not one that existed in that story world.

“Hmm, I don’t think he was quite THIS handsome though. I really outdid myself drawing this character. It’s too bad that he doesn’t get much screen time as an extra. He’s one of the most popular characters too. Well, because he’s handsome, cool, mysterious, and talented like main characters usually are, I suppose. It’s weird that a comic character can be even more handsome than real life though. He’s pretty and soft…”

The artist got caught up in observing the fine features cut and curved like a statue of the sleeping student. He was perfect beyond even any idol in real life, even the one he was based off of. Nice, groomed, arched eyebrows, cute rounded nose, sharp jawline that looked like it could cut you, ebony curtain of lush, spindly eyelashes for days, manly dimpled chin and high, prominent cheekbones, a small, angular face, and gorgeous, luscious locks of chestnut hair that always fell back into perfectly styled place. The sort of person that drew attention by being naturally glowing and mesmerizing no matter what mood or mundane thing he was doing. The sort of good looks that made your jaw drop and your heart stop beating for several moments at one glance.

No matter your gender or your sexual preference, Seongwoo was the sort of good-looking that anyone could appreciate, like natural law. The most handsome person in his story, the most handsome person likely in the universe.

If only he was more approachable and talkative. With classmates, he happened to be quiet, shy, aloof, and unsociable. The only person the introvert interacted with regularly was his close friend, Minhyun, and the teachers if absolutely necessary. He was the rather broody, silent, lost in his own issues, unbothered sort of type.

Except that he was still very much likable. Because of how adorable he looked bickering with Minhyun who loved to tease him as well as he had professional level drawing skills, puppies made him smile sweetly, he was addicted to sugary drinks, and his long-term sickness battles also made you feel sympathy and concern for him. He had reversal, quirky charms like that which made most of the student body and many of his readers absolutely crazy for him, forgiving his more prickly characteristics.

“What am I doing? It’s not time to go gay for a figure of my own imagination. You need to figure out a way to get out of here or wake up.”

Daniel chided and punished himself by hitting his head. Nothing happened though. He was still in the nurse’s room. Seongwoo was still asleep.

With nothing to do, the artist drummed his fingers on his knees and looked around the room, judging his own drawing skills, noting where some things seemed off or too bland that he could improve on the next time he drew this scenery. His weakness truly was the details of settings and backdrops like his editor said, irritating as it was since he’d been working on it for ages. Like she suggested, he should really just admit defeat, that it wasn’t his forte, and find an assistant who could relieve the burden and draw these things more impressively. For the sake of creating better works.

He noticed a small, oval mirror hanging on the wall and moved so that he was reflected in it. It was strange to see himself in comic character form. His messy, greasy, dusty blonde hair was cooler, fashionably styled, and bright yellow. His body was even bulkier, his cheeks a bit rounder and fluffier, and his angular eyes were unrealistically large, pretty, warm hazel and sparkly with super long, thick lashes almost like a girl’s. Somehow his hoodie looked like a fashion statement rather than a result of his sheer laziness.

“Oh~ I guess everyone is good looking in the comic-verse. Even chubby, plain people like me. Now I kind of don’t want to go back. I could get a cute girlfriend if I wandered around here, maybe posing as a teacher’s aid.”

Talking to himself caused Seongwoo to stir awake. Daniel scooted to the edge of the bed and patted his arm rather awkwardly because half of him expected his hand to go straight through. It was solid though, like a person would feel. Which was somewhat a relief but strange in its own way.

Everything here was a drawing inside his tablet but why did it seem so realistic? Was he able to touch it because he’d become a comic character temporarily?

“Are you okay, Seongwoo?”

The student stared at the stranger in a confused, sleepy daze, blinking his thick curtain of lashes slowly. It took him a minute to stop being adorably lost, then he bolted upright and slid as far to the edge of the bed without falling off of it as he could, appearing stricken and apprehensive.

“How do you know my name? Who are you? Why are you here? What did you do to me? What do you want? Explain yourself immediately.”

Seongwoo looked the man up and down wearily, his tone almost as nasty and doubtful as Minhyun’s was earlier, though much lovelier. The stranger next to the bed oddly resembled the first boy crush that he’d ever had which made him realize his sexual preferences. He half expected the person to say his name was Seonho. Besides appearing a bit older and scruffier, they were incredibly similar.

Seonho had been his senior in drawing club back in his middle school days. They’d been rather close despite having nothing in common but after he heard that Seongwoo was engaged to a guy, he’d been disgusted by the idea of gays and avoided him like the plague. He’d never even dared to confess his feelings because he knew that it would only end with him getting insulted and hurt. They’d drifted apart and his feelings had gradually faded as Seonho’s narrow-mindedness and jerky attitude came to light. Like Minhyun had warned, he shouldn’t have judged a book by it’s cover.

He’d almost forgotten about that jerk, until that second he seemed to be in the nurse’s office, directly in front of him. The feelings temporarily came rushing back. His cheeks heating, his heart racing, his palms getting sweaty and throat going dry from nerves.

_Seonho sunbae ?? is even more dangerously hot. Just look at the body on him, those plump, succulent lips, those sweet, adorable puppy eyes. Now he’s got some baby fat on his cheeks which makes him look super fluffy and I’m itching to pinch it…_

“I’m Daniel. Wait, I mean. I’m nobody. I just helped you out earlier because you seemed ill. I just carried you here, that’s all. I didn’t even touch you besides when I carried you, I’ve just been sitting here innocently. The nurse checked on you. And your friend is calling the doctor now, just outside.”

Seongwoo tilted his head, a rare grin of sincere amusement spreading across his pretty face. His first impression of this guy was that he was funny, weird, and quite dorky.

“You’re Daniel Nobody then? That’s quite a lame name. I’ve never met a ‘Nobody’ before. Thanks for the help and nice to meet you, I guess.”

Daniel flushed deeply and waved his hands, taken aback by the smile and the joke which no-one would have expected Seongwoo to do. “No, my name’s not that lame! It’s Kang actually. Daniel Kang. Which meanings strong. It’s a super cool name, as cool as Clark Kent.”

“Debatable but I admit that Kang is better than Nobody. Nobody sounds like an obvious alias in a spy spoof. Well, it’s nice to meet you then and thanks for saving my life, Mr. Daniel Kang not a Nobody. My name is Ong Seongwoo. Not Gong, Hong, or Bong but Ong. O-N-G like in…”

“Long. Ong Seongwoo,” Daniel finished his catch phrase without thinking.

It was a pretty lame catch phrase, but it was always hilarious when Seongwoo introduced himself that way in classes or group settings because he said it with an expressionless face and a dead pan tone. Somehow something lame and childish coming seriously from such a cool, gorgeous person was hilarious.

Daniel was laughing softly, until he noticed that Seongwoo was glaring at him as if he committed a crime.

“Didn’t we just meet? How could you know what I was going to say? You said my name before, too, right when I’d just woken up come to think of it. I’m not wearing any name tag. Tell me the truth. You know me, don’t you? Were you following me earlier? Are you a fan from a previous year? Or have we been in an academy before?”

By this point, Seongwoo was torn between thinking this was indeed Seonho attempting to hide his identity for some reason that he was someone else or it was a stalker fan he should be wary of should they try and molest him.

“I just overheard and guessed, is all. You don’t know me nor do I know you,” the other insisted, but the high pitch and his shifty, hazel-colored, almond shaped eyes suggested he was likely lying.

Seongwoo found him suspicious and he wasn’t the sort to trust anyone easily because of his status and background. He’d long ago learned that most people who approached him had some sort of motive, some that could result in harming him or his family. This wouldn’t be the first time someone attempted to con money out of him, pretending to get close, sometimes threatening his family. He crossed his arms and leaned forward, keeping his eyes narrowed and judging the older person coolly. He noticed then that this Daniel guy had an interesting beauty mark, a dot under one of his almond-shaped, milk chocolate eyes.

So, it couldn’t be Seonho then. Seonho didn’t have any beauty marks, he was sure of it since he’d secretly stared at his face enough to have memorized every detail. You didn’t simply forget the way a person looked after hours of inspecting them. It was a complete stranger, unless his memory was growing worse as he aged. Maybe the fainting spells messed with his brain cells. It had been so many years since he’d last seen the guy.

_Could it be a dream? But usually, I’m aware of when I’m dreaming and I can control the direction. I don’t usually dream about such realistic situations and settings either. Seonho’s hardly ever appeared, let alone a nicer, hotter look-alike._

“Hmm. I recalled something weird just now. I swore I saw you through this floating liquid-like circular portal. When I was on the verge of dying, I reached through the zapping pixels that randomly appeared in front of me because I saw a person sitting in a chair on the other side. You were in some sort of office. With lots of sketches and photos pinned to a board behind you. I think you’re an artist, right? Were you me or…?”

Daniel acted as unbothered as possible, shrugging. “You must have been dreaming. Drawing too much will give you an overactive imagination like that. How could I be in another world drawing someone I never met?”

Seongwoo jabbed his finger in the air, bolting upright once more, appearing more certain of himself that something was strange about this person.

“How could you know I draw? You must know me. Admit that you’re a stalker fan. Just how long have you been following me? That’s the reason you were in the park.”

“I’m not! I was just passing by at the wrong time, really. I didn’t know you until just a moment ago. It was just, um…a lucky guess? You seem like that sort who would have a creative introduction. Looking at how your skin tone and dainty hands. You seem artistic…”

Seongwoo sat back with a snort, crossing his arms again. For a long moment, there was an awkward silence. Seongwoo studied Daniel while Daniel avoided his eyes, wringing the edge of his hoodie as nervousness crashed down on him like a tsunami.

“I think that I wasn’t imagining anything. Look at your clothes. You’re not even wearing pants. What else would anyone conclude based on that?”

Daniel flushed, covering his bare legs, just realizing that he was only in boxers below the waist. Well, that had to be one of the most humiliating things that ever happened to him. How many people had seen his junk swinging around and his thick honey thighs? His tongue got tied up attempting to think of an excuse for walking around in broad daylight without pants. It certainly wasn’t normal any way you attempted to spin it.

Seongwoo continued with his theories and never-ending questions. Daniel was stumped further into silence, never expecting that this character could be talkative. He’d probably said more in the past five minutes than Daniel recalled him talking in several chapters combined.

“If you’re not a perverted stalker, then it must be that. You’re living in another world, the one I saw through that portal that popped up randomly. Can you look down on our world then from the sky? Or is this world some sort of book? Why is it that I can hear the sounds of flipping pages? Am I inside of a book? Why is there sometimes people do things that don’t make any sense? Why is it that I can’t always control my actions or act differently depending on the time of day? Not only me. It’s as if, we exist but we’re also being controlled, like inside of a story. We have to move as the writer wishes but we still have somewhat of a will of our own, a slightly different personality than what was intended…”

As Seongwoo made rapid fire observations hardly taking a pause to breathe, simply chatting with himself aloud as he had an existential break down, Daniel became more panicked. He had no idea how to answer these questions which were hitting incredibly close to home. However, what he did know was that from various plots he’d studied, usually things did not go well once a character learned that he wasn’t real and the world he was living in was made up. They started to rebel in order to test the boundaries and see what happened, then the story went strange directions or the whole world fell apart.

The artist had created Seongwoo not only to be rich and good looking but apparently too intelligent, creative, and curious for his own good. No wonder he had the most admirers in the school. At first, he hadn’t written about Seongwoo that much. He’d written more about Minhyun, Seongwoo one of the extras there there as an afterthought with a minor, specific purpose. However, the comic had spiked in popularity once he’d introduced a sort of BL coupling sort of story line. At that time, his editor had suggested they could draw in more readers by utilizing the friendship between those two handsome, unique characters.

Daniel knew that ‘Boys Love’ was trendy these days. He’d checked out some famous BL webtoons, finding it interesting since he’d only ever read straight romances. Since they’d become quite popular without his intention and fans asked to see more, Daniel had been thinking of giving them some special chapters with fluffy bromance moments to feed the shippers sometime soon. He hadn’t worked it out yet since writing out romance with guys was all new to him.

There was another reason though. Seongwoo was as difficult to write about as he was enchanting to read about. Since he was one of the most mysterious and conflicting characters. He didn’t make much sense even to his creator, but you wanted to figure him out, such as an advanced math problem. He felt as if he was figuring out this mysterious, introverted, charismatic boy along with the readers since he wasn’t all that fleshed out like some other characters were.

“That’s nonsense. You’re a funny kid. Maybe you hit your head when you fell on a rock or something. You should rest more. I’m just gonna go then, since you’re fine and things are sorted out. Your friend will be here with the doctor any minute. So, um, nice to meet you, and get well soon…”  
“Wait! You can’t go yet! You didn’t explain anything to me. What did I see then? How do you know about me? If you go, then I’m going to report you as a stalker to the police!”

Seongwoo grabbed his wrist as he attempted to flee, using threats to keep him around but not really sounding as if he would go through with it. Daniel lost his balance in the struggle to escape and incidentally tumbled, landing somehow on top of the student. With their faces crashing together before anything else.

Somehow as if this was a scene being drawn by another artist who had weird accidental kiss fetishes, their lips managed to land squarely on each other which was a very unlikely probability. Something so stereotypical and cheesy he would have never written in. If he tried, his editor would have bashed his head in with her purse for being cliché.

After a whole minute of staring at each other with their lips firmly connected, Daniel pulled off. Seongwoo lightly touched his parted lips, blinking at him as his face tinted pinker by the second.

Daniel was lost in staring at that mouth, his own tingling with special sensation.

In awe, he whispered, “I know you’re not real, but that certainly felt real…”

_And nice. Softest lips ever. I would so do that again. Not a bad way at all to break the dry spell. Boy or girl, I guess lips are genderless, so you can enjoy a kiss with anyone._

Seongwoo’s galaxy eyes enlarged, the fuzzy, romantic atmosphere between them shattering. They looked around them in wonder, literally seeing some sparkly, tinted film breaking and spinning away. Well, it was a comic world, so what was he really surprised about anymore?

“Wah…”  
“So, I’m not real then? Is any of this real? Can you tell me? What is this world? Who made it and who is controlling it?” Seongwoo asked in a rush, bringing his attention back by shaking his arm.

The door opened. Daniel was still half lying across Seongwoo, their heads mere inches apart then. It was a compromising position anyone would misunderstand, especially with him not wearing any pants and hovering over a sick innocent student as if he was about to kiss him. Still, it made them both jolt as they hadn’t expected that Minhyun would completely explode, shoving Daniel off and nearly sending him crashing into the wall.

“What the fuck is going on here? Did you do something to him? I knew you were strange. Back off, you molester!”

Seongwoo attempted to subdue his friend with a soft tone and patting his arm. “Minhyun, wait…I don’t think he’s a bad person. Calm down, you shouldn’t shout in school.”

“How can I possibly calm down? Can’t you see this guy is half naked and he was trying to make a move on you? He’s a fucking nasty old pervert. He was probably stalking you and waiting to take advantage of you the moment you were vulnerable. This disgusting trash deserves to be rotting in jail. Don’t even try to understand him. Don’t believe whatever lies he’s saying. Just look at what he was about to do!”

“Minhyun, just wait. Let me talk to him some more. I think maybe there’s a big misunder—”

Minhyun was furious and not listening. He was shoving Daniel hard on the chest, driving him back towards the exit. He’d go to hell before he left Seongwoo with some creepy stranger who might assault and defile his pure self a second more.

“Get out! Now! Before I call the cops! Get out and stay away from my fiancé! Forever! If I see you again, you’re going to be torn to pieces by my lawyer! He’s more ruthless than a shark.”

Daniel clumsily tripped on the bed leg and fell backwards, a moment later slamming into a plush chair when he’d expected to crash into the hard floor. Suddenly, in the span of closing his eyes and bracing for impact, he was back in his office, everything there as it usually was. Not in comic form either. Everything looked different, dimmer, sharper, more detailed, not as pretty as the previous surroundings had appeared. He sat up in a daze with his brow furrowed, rubbing his sore neck. He felt dizzy, drowsy, and seriously confused.

“Did I fall asleep here? Was that a dream then? But it felt so real? How weird…”

What was weirder than the contents of his assumed daydream or how realistic everything had been though was what he saw on his tablet. There were pages of scenes he didn’t recall drawing. The frames included Seongwoo spinning in the park, then gasping for air, collapsing on the ground, weakly calling for help, a zapping, black, pixelated portal appearing with his hand reaching through it, pulling some shocked, hooded blonde into the story.

From there, the panels contained a short story where everything was exactly as he recalled from his dream, only in brightly colored, soft-edged cartoon form. The writer was in the story as a character, boxers, bare legs, and name included. The dialogue was written exactly as had happened but not his thoughts, only Seongwoo and Minhyun’s. Including Seongwoo’s thoughts of doubting the existence of his world and the fact that Minhyun likely had feelings for Seongwoo beyond friendship, barely controlling his raging jealousy at the thought of another caring for him or getting close to kissing him.

There was suddenly a total of five extra pages added to the chapter, completely colored even.

Extremely freaked out and not approving of this story line which hardly made any sense, Daniel attempted to erase or undo, but nothing he attempted worked in the slightest. He could not remove anything from those pages. They were the only parts of the current chapter file that couldn’t be edited, which was a glitch he’d never seen or heard happen in his entire life. He was officially stuck in the story, looking plumper and prettier than he did in real life, wearing his hoodie and boxers like a sloppy pervert.

In the last frame of the added pages, a pissed Minhyun was on his cell phone and Seongwoo was still in the bed, staring up outside of the frame. It seemed as if he were looking straight through the tablet at the readers.

“Where’d that hot guy disappear to?” Appeared in an empty speech bubble as if it was written by itself, right in front of Daniel’s widened eyes.

Daniel scratched his head, then sat back in the chair and sighed with exasperation. “As much as I’m flattered, what the fuck is going on?”


	2. Thirst For Knowledge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seongwoo causes ruckus within the story by rebelling against his creator’s plans and dragging Daniel back into his world in character form, at first unintentional and then on purpose. As a result, the focus of the webtoon begins to shift, a boy’s love triangle occurring, Seongwoo and Daniel becoming important, beloved characters. Seongwoo is persistent, determined to get Daniel to crack about the truth of his existence. Once that happens though, things are bound to get more chaotic than ever. As charming and cute the manipulative, quirky brat might be, the artist must keep his lips sealed shut.

_Was that really not Seonho? Then again, Seonho was never that nice. He wouldn’t have helped me because just touching me he’s afraid to catch my ‘gay virus.’ I think that guy was more handsome too. But like a cute sort of handsome still, because he’s got a surplus of squishy baby fat and he’s very smiley. The cutest dimples and a lovely, charming eye-smile. He’s sexy when he’s not smiling though, I wouldn’t mind seeing that charismatic side more often._

_He seemed strong. His body was superbly firm, I remember. Especially his back and chest. Does he work out every day? Or is that all mostly natural beefiness? I’ve never seen shoulders that broad before. You could hang a whole bag full of laundry on them alone. I bet they’re nice to hug._

_When can I see him again? Do those portals open up sporadically? I checked the park several times but never saw anything like that portal though. Maybe only in times of emergency? Should I pretend to be sick again? Or should I get myself into an accident and see what happens? Hmm, I really hate being in pain though. Imagine how much worse it would hurt being hit by a car…_

Seongwoo squinted hard as he attempted to peer through the thick classroom ceiling, pondering over the person he’d met before that he was thinking could give him answers about this place and his existence if he pestered him enough. If only one of those portals would appear there, so at least he could see what Daniel was doing at the moment, how he spent his afternoons, how much hotter he looked when he was concentrating on work. That was at the top of his list of things he wanted to know.

“Let’s have a talk, Bondie. Can’t you give me some answers? I know you know things. You’re clearly hiding something. You might even be the reason for everything weird around here. Are you controlling this world? Did you create those travel portals? Are we living according to some sort of plot you designed?”

He didn’t care that there were other students staring at him, questioning if he’d lost his mind from the pressures of the entrance exam (would be understandable, certainly not uncommon). Once that faint page flipping sound came, his time in the shadows would be done anyway. Then, things would move in a way that sort of seemed unreal or not to make any lick of logical sense. It was also a bit predictable and unrealistic to him, as if a stereotypical dramatic romance drama plotline was playing out before his eyes, as if he were part of a VR game.

Now that he was questioning everything around him, he was aware of the things that didn’t make much logical sense and seemed like a plot merely driven to bring two of his classmates together. Whatever he did or said that was ‘out of character’ or straight up strange, evil, rude in the shadows was forgotten in the ‘spotlight world’ as if it had never happened. He’d tried several times talking to Minhyun about the possibility that they were characters or pawns being controlled for some greater purpose by someone in another universe who could travel through zappy portals. His friend couldn’t even recall meeting Daniel that fateful, enlightening day or any of those related conversations they had thereafter.

The flipping of the page was almost like a memory-swiping tool for all for those besides himself who were not yet ‘aware’ that something about their world was seriously abnormal. As soon as he started questioning things around him and listened for those things he’d once absently heard, he’d become ‘humanized’ and the others felt like robots posing as humans, moving/speaking/thinking/feeling at the will of some invisible, all powerful being. Even Minhyun who he knew the best acted slightly differently depending on the time of day, though he couldn’t pick up exactly what Minhyun thought or felt for him in the shadows.

It was too complicated and he didn’t want to address it at the moment since he had other pressing priorities. The possibility of his childhood friend actually having feelings and wanting to be married to him later on was bothersome.

Right then, the only person he was remotely interested in was that attractive, mysterious stranger. Seongwoo was convinced that he was not exactly real nor was this place where he was meant to be. The only person that could give him the true meaning of his existence, that probably WAS real, who could return a sense of purpose to his life, change the path his character had for the better as a unique, complex, independent individual, and possibly help him escape from this fake world was that Daniel Nobody Kang. Wherever he was watching them from like an omniscient being.

Something that the intelligent Seongwoo was not aware of was that every time he thought of Daniel for an extensive amount of time, the artist ended up pulled randomly into the comic world. It didn’t matter what he was doing or where he was, even when he wasn’t anywhere nearby the tablet he used for drawing. The artist suddenly appeared inside a world that was familiar but not completely like his own. One much brighter and colorful, less crowded and noisy, and somehow more beautiful and softer. As if he had some sort of apparition power like in Harry Potter. 

He’d pop up—literally there was a sound like a confetti-shooting party popper--in the comic around the school or park, dressed the exact same way that he’d been, sometimes hardly dressed in anything at all. He was even holding whatever he’d been holding at that time, a towel or a toothbrush or a cup of coffee. He eventually figured out what it was that triggered his appearances, since sometimes the text magically appeared in his story, as well as scenes of himself here and there just as he’d recalled happened. After he had met Seongwoo, there seemed to be some sort of special, invisible link developed between.

It seemed whenever Seongwoo thought of him intently, he became tugged into the comic. When the story continued or something surprising or important to the main characters happened, the page became flipped and he was naturally flown back into his world, since by then his and Seongwoo’s strange side story was no longer important. The comic world moved at a different pace than how he’d written it, falling behind either hours or days depending on the events occurring. It greatly affected getting his work done by the time of the approaching deadline. Not to mention it freaked out his assistant when he suddenly disappeared for a whole day, completely unreachable.

“Dammit, Seongwoo. Would you stop thinking of me so much? Are you in love with me? Or are you just that much of an annoying pest? What kind of senior in high school has this much free time? Study for your freaking entrance exams before you have to wait another year!”

Daniel muttered and let out an irritated sigh as he found himself with some stray cat he’d been petting, considering if he should take home or not. A moment later, he realized that he wasn’t in the school or park as usual. He was in a bedroom-- one that was bigger than his whole apartment, so it was strange to call it that. With a huge canopied, curtained king size bed, half a library full of stacked bookshelves, a Victorian style fancy vanity, a walk in closet, and much more large, luxurious, unnecessary things that only a rich family could afford.

“A rich family, a mansion with lots of books, a desk for a student….wait…shiiit…” He drawled in a whisper, him and the cat both gaping in fear at the shifting lump in the bed.

The owner of the room sat up, moving the sheer draped curtains so that he could see better. Time seemed to stand still as Daniel’s eyes adjusted and a slit of lamp-light danced on a familiar prominent-featured face. Somehow, Seongwoo was even prettier with bed hair and just aroused from slumber. He smiled softly, rubbing the rounded, long-lashed, galaxy eye that was open as he realized the intruder wasn’t one to fear.

“Oh. I was dreaming of you. So, dreams work to call you here, huh. What’s with the cat though? Did you bring me a new friend? Hmm, you should know I prefer puppies though. Being an all-knowing God that you are.”

Daniel hugged the cat and stepped backwards towards the window, wondering if he could escape from there. Though as he recalled, he’d drawn Seongwoo living in some Beverly Hills style mansion with several floors, his room being on the uppermost. He’d probably die jumping from there even if the ground happened to be cushioned. As he suspected, it was three stories down to the grounds, which looked like some fancy Victorian style garden you might expect the royal family to have. Shit out of luck.

_Why did I draw chaebol homes so unnecessarily huge with a bunch of boulder statues?! It’s Korea, not America!_

Seongwoo guessed the reason for his defeated, heavy sigh, teasing in a breezy, snarky, “You can’t expect to live jumping out of there. You’ll break your neck on a statue or tree branch before you even hit the ground. Unless you’re some sort of a god or a ghost. That would narrow down my theories and make a lot of sense.”

Daniel insisted, “I’m just a normal human. Like you. I told you already.”

“Hmm, what sort of imbecile do you take me for? I happen to have been ranked in the top five of every class my entire life. My IQ is impressive as well. One thing I’m particularly excellent at is problem solving. I’ve been on the winning team every math competition, regional and national. I know that I seem human in this world, but I’m definitely not considered a normal person in yours. Tell me what is it that I am.”

Daniel shook his head, gulping nervously and backing up into the corner, shoulders pressed against the cold window sill. The grey and black tabby cat jumped out of his arms with a hiss as it didn’t seem to like Seongwoo who was approaching, wearing a pair of button up pajamas with his always perfectly hair a wavy, tussled mess from rolling around in his sleep.

That was interesting, though Daniel knew it was dumb to make those kind of observations. The Seongwoo he’d seen was always put together, neat, and perfect in all ways, especially his hair no matter if wind was blowing or Minhyun messed with it. So, between scenes, things were a bit different even though he was a character. Things existed that were all Seongwoo’s own, not in his original character maps. Like the fact that he was rather domineering, pushy, and had no problem invading someone’s personal space.

A moment later, Daniel’s heart was racing and his eyes squinted closed as Seongwoo pinned him in the dark corner, their faces an inch apart, his glistening doe eyes intense.

_Who allowed this kid or taught him to smirk like that? I don’t like that. Why is he so alluring and smell so dang good? Why is it that when I become a character everything here becomes so real and vivid?_

His reaction only became more intense as Seongwoo’s breath brushed his sensitive neck.

The student commanded in a low, husky whisper, “Tell me, Daniel. Who am I? Who are you? Where is this? I must know. I’m not letting you out of here until you tell me. Tell me everything you know. Right now.”

“I don’t think I should. It could have disastrous consequences. For you, for me, for many others. It’s better if you stay unaware. Can’t you just forget you ever saw me?”

“No. I can’t. Of course, it would be much easier and I wouldn’t be pestering you if I could. Not only can I not forget, Daniel. I can’t seem to stop thinking of you after that day. Or dreaming of you even, apparently. It’s like I’ve been struck with a fast-spreading, stubborn virus. You’re like the plague. You’ve dug deep into my system. I’ve got you under my skin.”

Daniel winced and scrunched his nose. “Well, that’s not a nice thing to say to someone. You sure can’t say anything nice, can you?”

“Yeah, I guess not. Because you didn’t write me that way, did you?”

Daniel opened his eyes to find that Seongwoo was still smirking in that wicked, sensual fashion and staring down at his mouth through hooded, incredibly dark eyes, looking like he was about to pounce on him like a starving tiger. It was insanely freaking erotic. A jolt of electricity sprang through his blood, setting fire to the pit of his stomach. He bit his lip, swallowing back a groan, his thighs clenching as arousal hit him intensely out of the blue.

_Oh my god. He turned me on again. What is it about this kid that gets to me like that? God, I feel like a creep. Getting hard over a dang fictional character, not even a real person, just someone from my imagination that I drew randomly._

_What’s wrong with me? Or is there something strange about him? Did he develop a seduction power? Is that why everyone falls head over heels for him despite his unfriendly, gloomy personality? He seemed sort of nerdy and cute in a quirky way when I read back though. Is he only like this in the shadows? Or was there something that caused him to gradually change? Is this my fault for modeling him after someone much older and more mature than any eighteen-year-old should be?_

_He certainly seemed different slightly as the volumes went on, I noticed. Now I don’t know who he is or how to deal with him. You and me both, kiddo, we don’t know what’s going on anymore. This shit is so crazy, I’m an inch away from going on hiatus and dropping this story that has a mind of its own to have a peaceful night’s sleep._

“Why don’t you seem surprised to appear here though, Daniel? Have you been here before without me knowing? Somewhere other than my room, I mean.”

Daniel refused to answer, shifting his gaze away. He gulped, feeling extra nervous because Seongwoo was still close and pinning him. Much like a male lead would do to a female lead in typeical romance stories.

“Because it happened in the shadows. That’s why you don’t know some things and I don’t know about you visiting here. Unless we meet up. Do you know about this? You might not know, but you must have some idea recently after we met. Because you’re the creator, right?”

Daniel sighed at the persistent questions. Unfortunately, Seongwoo seemed like he wasn’t going to stop or move away until he answered something. This unnerving position was doing a number on his blood pressure.

“Yes, that’s right. I created this world. But I can’t control everything as I thought. It seems it keeps escaping my ideas. Curving differently than I planned. It doesn’t show itself to me.”

_Was that vague enough? I didn’t give him a hint on how the world was created, so at least then he doesn’t know if he’s in a book or a movie or something else. That should save me from getting stuck in a crumbling vortex for now. He might not realize he’s a character but think instead he’s a person moved here for some sort of experiment._

“The story moves on its own and you aren’t in control or aware of it completely, hmm. So you aren’t aware of what I’m thinking or feeling…”

_Damn, scratch that last bit of hope. If he said story, he must know that everyone here is a character. I just pray this world won’t collapse once he starts flippantly talking about it. What do I do with this disbehaving, careless brat?_

“Right, unless you say it aloud, I can’t know what your ‘real’ self is experiencing in the shadows as you call it. Between the plot that I’ve written whenever you appear.”

“Oh, I see. I knew it. I really am not actually human. Somehow it’s good though. To know that I still have my own will, at least sometimes. I’m not completely controlled.”

_When is he going to back off and release me? I’m breaking out in a cold sweat here! My heart feels like it’s going to rip my rip cage open!_

“Yes, you do indeed have your own will. You’re an extremely independent soul with a mind of your own that I can’t begin to predict. I didn’t write you to act like this, for example. Parts of your personality seem quite different from what I recall.”

Seongwoo hummed, lightly bobbing his chiseled chin any actor would be envious of.

“Hmm, I see. So, which do you prefer? The me now or the me you created?”

Seongwoo had finally straightened up, resulting in Daniel becoming free from the body trap. He immediately took advantage of it, slithering along the wall away from the pajama-clad chaebol scratching his neck. Seongwoo watched him curiously with an amused, playful, crooked grin. That sort of smile was also not one the artist was familiar with. It made him swelter and shiver, bashfully shifting his nervous gaze to the other side of the room. He chewed on his lip and fidgeted with his shirt, searching his frazzled brain for a way to get out of there. He was going to have to abandon the poor, confused cat in this world and hope that Seongwoo wouldn’t abuse it.

_I need to do something that would shock him. That’s the fastest, surefire way to transport back to my room. What might surprise some rich teenager?_

“Look there, a floating hippo!”

Seongwoo turned to look where Daniel was abruptly pointing, though he didn’t for a second believe what the other said he spotted was possible. It was a move made by sheer instinct. When his head flipped back to center on Daniel, he was faced with a toned, pale, completely bare torso. The blonde had raised up his shirt to flash his ripped chest and abdominals—this was how desperate he was, even sacrificing his pride. Although Seongwoo was surprised, it wasn’t enough to send Daniel spinning out of the shadow world. The artist suffered humiliation for nothing in the end.

Seongwoo merely stared at his white chocolate stomach with his eyes widened cutely in amazement as if he’d never seen an adult man’s fit body before. When Daniel dropped his shirt, their eyes met for a brief moment, then flew away, heat spreading across their faces.

“I don’t know what that was all about, but would you like me to reciprocate? Will you come when I call you then?”

“Um…What do you mean by recipro-- Woah! No, I don’t need that! Put your shirt down, seriously!”

The slightly shy Seongwoo was slowly lifting his shirt up to demonstrate his point. As soon as he’d caught on, an extremely bashful Daniel pressed his fingers over his eyes, fully blocking out the image of creamy, smooth skin. Seongwoo put down his shirt and shrugged.

“I thought it was worth a try. If you’re gay. Maybe I’m just not your type. Do you prefer the muscular, sporty, rough types? Do you prefer to be bottom rather than top?”

There was another thing Daniel couldn’t even begin to think of how to answer. What was his orientation? Did he even have a type? If he were with a guy, would he be the bottom or the top or would he not mind either? Hopefully, Seongwoo would never find out that he was the ONLY type of guy that the creator had ever been attracted to or fantasized about, usually he was the top but after that whole aggressive, flirtatious, pinning situation earlier things might be different.

Daniel sighed, resting his hands on his tapered waist. He attempted to respond with an authoritative tone, reminding the other of their clear age gap, needing to re-establish proper boundaries.

“No more nonsense questions. Forget that happened. It’s an order from your senior. It’s late. It’s a weekday. I really should get going, so you can go back to sleep. I’m sorry for disturbing a student’s much needed resting time. I never came here intentionally. Somehow I get dragged into your world here and there. But…”

“How do you get out?” Seongwoo finished his thought, doe eyes sparkling with curiosity. “I have some idea of how you get in, but I wonder how you manage to leave. Do you think it’s possible for someone like me to go out as well?”

This kid had a bottomless thirst for knowledge. Because he was too curious for his own good, that’s how Daniel kept getting dragged into this mess, putting possibly the entire world in danger by questioning his existence. His eye twitched with irritation at the reminder.

“I can’t tell you that or you’ll be on your guard and predicting things, so it won’t work. Please, Seongwoo, do yourself and me a huge favor. Stop wondering and overthinking so much. Focus on your studies, hobbies, and future like any other person your age. At this rate, you will flunk the entrance exams. And I’m likely to snap and break things like King Kong.”

“What will you do if I don’t stop? Will you try and break me or hit me with something? When you tell me not to, you know, it only makes me want to do it more to see what happens. You should know how teenagers are. We’re rebellious like that. I happen to have been designed a bit more so than average.”

“Yeah, I know that. Believe me, though I didn’t know that before, it’s crystal clear now. Teenagers learn best by making mistakes. But those mistakes might cause a lot more trouble than you can imagine. I don’t know what would happen exactly, but I can think of some potential consequences and the outcome is not a pretty image. Watch out for yourself, be smart like you are usually.”

Seongwoo scoffed, giving off a haughty look. Although Daniel was taller, older, and bigger, he suddenly felt like a shrimp in his charismatic presence. Was this because of the difference in their upbringing? Or was it just a personality difference?

“For a creative person, you sure are cowardly. I guess you don’t go outside much. Maybe you’re a nerd? An otaku? Game addict?”

“Ha. Speak for yourself. Do I really need to prove how well I know you? Fine. I know for a fact that you only go out to the park sometimes when you’re stressed. All the rest of the time, you’re stuck inside. Hate exercising. Hate sweating. Clumsy, especially completely uncoordinated with balls. Only socialize when you’re forced to. Barely even liked talking to your parents at dinner time. You spend most of your time locked up in your room or the library since it’s silent, listening to music, studying, reading, and drawing. You’re quite the cowardly, lazy homebody yourself despite also being creative. Between the both of us, you’re the one who seems nerdier.”

Seongwoo crossed his arms with a huge, flattered smile that made him incredibly gorgeous and soft. His fangirls would have blood bursting from their noses or have fainted on the spot if they’d seen that. It was yet another smile and side of Seongwoo that Daniel had never thought could exist. The spoiled, chic, sickly student was full of surprises between the planned panels, it seemed.

“You know a lot about me, I see. Here I thought I wasn’t memorable enough for you to recall details like that. Up until just now, I was questioning my original thought about you being my creator actually. You still seem pretty dumb and forgetful like a goldfish, but now my hypothesis is pretty much confirmed whether you admit it or not. You know too much about me. So, if you’re indeed not a stalker like you insist, then you must be my creator.”

“Don’t insult people while looking like that, you brat. It’s unsettling…” Daniel muttered, tugging at his burning, itchy ear, feeling terribly shy again. As if their ages were reversed and he’d become the teenager getting grilled by his sunbae/hyung.

He desperately wanted to escape, afraid for how much his feelings would be shaken up hanging around this dangerously attractive, charming, observant person. Seongwoo certainly was a character that anyone could fall for, but if his creator also fell, wouldn’t things be extremely dangerous? He was a side character that was getting too much screen time and sort of stealing the spotlight these days already as it was.

“Hmm, it’s unsettling meaning that you think it’s creepy? Or is it the way that I think it is, Daniel? When I smile or get close to you, then I make your heart race…”

“No comment…” Daniel scooted across the room as Seongwoo slowly approached him with a wavy, feline grin. He was full of mischief and seemed to enjoy taunting his elders, pushing boundaries he knew he shouldn’t.

“And I’m several years older than you. Just because you’re filthy rich doesn’t mean you can throw manners out the window. The setting of this place is still in Korea. Respect your elders.”

Seongwoo thankfully halted his pretty bare feet in the middle of the room, nodding affirmatively. “Neh, hyung.”

_Hyung…I wasn’t expecting that. God, get me out of here someone please before I explode._

“Something’s wrong, hyung? Why did you turn around? Hyung?”

Daniel twirled to face the wall, holding back a silent scream with his face flaming. His heart was pounding as if it was about to crack his ribs any moment. He’d had to turn around to hide the tent that sprouted in his sweats which he couldn’t hide completely. Seongwoo approached the rest of the way to him, barely making a sound with his bare feet gliding on the carpeted floor. Just as he tapped on Daniel’s shoulder, there came the heavenly sound of a flipping page, quite loud and clear because the room was otherwise dead silent.

A moment later, Daniel appeared in his room. He immediately collapsed on the bed, shoved his face into a pillow and screamed out his overwhelming mixed feelings.

“Don’t call me hyung!!!”

For the next couple of deadlines on his project, a stressed, sleepless, overwhelmed and thus zombified Daniel ignored Seongwoo directly calling for him to come and talk more. This resulted in Seongwoo doing disobedient acts to capture the creator’s attention that messed up the direction of his plot and got him in trouble with his editor. Anything to make Daniel angry enough to go seek him out, as if he didn’t care about being scolded. Even more infuriating, Seongwoo figured out how to call Daniel into the story at his own will, wherever he happened to be.

Daniel’s attempts to get out of the story as quick as possible hardly worked either, so he’d ended up posing as a transfer student, teacher’s assistant, and janitor depending on who he ended up appearing around. Since he was terrified of their worlds crashing together, killing him in the midst of the collapse. Thankfully, most people did not recognize him and believed whatever Daniel said that he was doing there. He didn’t come across any more awakened people, no one else getting dragged into the world and mixing their universes in other ways.

Usually, he had to stick around the school, academy, or Seongwoo’s home until the scenes that he’d actually written about the main characters continued. Since surprise factors didn’t work well. Even though he avoided drawing Seongwoo in the story, that bratty kid still somehow ended up there, along with himself, as if there was a boy-boy-boy love triangle occurring. That part of the story with Seongwoo and this mystery teleporting adult that came from some other unrevealed world was all messed up and random, leading to hundreds of complaints from fans and people even saying they would drop the story from then on.

There wasn’t anything that Daniel could do about it though. Seongwoo refused to listen until he had all of the answers which Daniel did his best to avoid giving no matter how adorable, naughty, persistent, and conniving he could be during questioning. He also couldn’t find a way to remove the pages that appeared of their own accord in random sections between what he had written previously.

Minhyun had a change in character, also out of Daniel’s hands. Both in the shadows and the planned scenes, he seemed more possessive, protective as if he were jealous. He socialized less and appeared lonelier and broodier than Seongwoo usually was like, as if they had switched bodies. Seongwoo in his story was now talkative and often smiling, but that’s because shadow Seongwoo, the ‘real’ version, was vastly different from the written character the readers knew of. It seemed that his characteristics were becoming mixed as he rebelled and fought against the system that invisibly controlled him like it was his personal mission.

Daniel was learning more about him, discovering that Seongwoo was chock full of charms beyond revealed in previous volumes. He was seriously stubborn, sharp, ever-curious, mischievous, witty, and fatally attractive. He’d basically given up at one point—on hiding his attraction and on getting the other to stop doing reckless things.

The story shifted focus over time until Seongwoo and Daniel’s growing relationship and Seongwoo’s questioning of who he was, his purpose in life, and just what the world around him was made up of became the main story while the romance plotline between the main characters, Dan-oh and Haru, got tossed to the sidelines for the time being.

The editor literally tossed up her hands with him, saying she didn’t understand what direction Daniel was going in anymore with this story but she had no choice but to trust him and publish whatever crap he made because he was the “inspired” artist after all. It was working out unexpectedly well anyway, in some other cases. There were twice as many new readers as there were ones that he lost, the kinds that were obsessed with boy’s love, some that liked their characters and interactions together a lot. He wasn’t sure how he should take that, being shipped with a fictional character he’d designed based off of his ideal type of guy if he ever dated one (Seongwoo’s real personality was even more so, in fact, minus a bit of obnoxiousness and narcissism).

These days, Daniel had just given up and gone with the flow basically. He was simply being himself, acting as the lonely and bored Seongwoo’s friend/career advisor, joking around, sharing music, giving him drawing tips and discussing techniques and styles. Daniel was honestly impressed with Seongwoo’s drawing skills seeing it happening in motion and the details of the stacks of sketchbooks he had.

At the moment, Seongwoo was at home, sitting at his study desk, working in his sketchbook, copying a photo of the Eiffel Tower which was one of the many places that he’d traveled too during vacations with Minhyun’s family – on their private jet, no less. Many of the times that they’d hung out until whenever that flip page sounded and Daniel got tossed back out of the world, Seongwoo would chat about his life experiences. It was interesting to Daniel to learn about how young aristocrats lived as well as Seongwoo’s sweet, smooth, airy voice was great for story-telling and he was surprisingly humble and down-to-earth once you got to know him. Whether it was how his parents raised him before their untimely deaths or more so the gentle, kind disposition he was naturally born with the artist wasn’t sure. One thing for sure was that there was a trunkful of attractive, likable points about the student. 

“You seriously could have a future with your drawings, Seongwoo-yah. This is amazing. I wish I could draw landscapes with such realistic, precise strokes. There’s so much detail here. It’s beautiful.”

How was he here again? Not that he didn’t WANT to be there because he sort of didn’t mind. He enjoyed meeting Seongwoo. The thing was he felt sorry for his poor assistant. That skittish, nerdy Woong was probably freaking out like a chicken being chased, wondering where he’d disappeared to again. He probably thought he had some sort of teleporting or invisibility power and was contemplating quitting because of the affect on his frazzled nerves. He was already stressed and on edge, living on more cups of coffee than hours of decent sleep these days. Especially with attempting to keep up with the weakly chapter deadlines and the knowledge that the comic seemed to have a life of its own, as if it were haunted. He was better than Daniel at drawing backgrounds, but he was too skittish and still sort of a turtle in terms of what this industry demanded.

Seongwoo, on the other hand, now he was something else. He was a super drawer. For ten minutes, Daniel merely stood behind Seongwoo’s chair, silently watching the serious, focused boy’s dainty, elegant fingers fly graceful and swift over the page. He sketched the detailed, sharp, perfectly straight lines of the criss-crossing metal on one of the sides of the tower in a flash, his expression and posture completely relaxed as if this was his normal speed rather than some sort of timed drawing competition. Daniel was so awed that his mouth hung open, acting like a fly trap. Although he was younger and less experienced, his talents made him something like a hero.

At his words, Seongwoo realized that he was no longer alone in the room. He wasn’t surprised though, since he was expecting Daniel to show up soon after he’d called for him. It was as easy as eating cake to pull Daniel by his side nowadays. As simple as him absently murmuring, ‘Daniel hyung? What are you doing now? Come talk to me.’

That’s all he had to say; an afterthought spilling out of his lips when he felt lonely. Somehow Daniel knew a second before he was pulled into the world that Seongwoo was calling him, strange as that sounded. It was as if they had developed some sort of telepathic connection that expanded outside the glass of his tablet once they’d become friends. Well, sometimes more like Seongwoo was the smug master and Daniel the loyal puppy.

The casually dressed student smiled at up at the stunned artist breezily in welcome. It was the sweet, fluffy sort of genuinely pleased, welcoming smile reserved for only him.

“You’re here, hyung?”

Daniel scowled, pretending to be irritated and flicking his pointy elf ear. “Yeah, I am. Even though some insufferably rude, selfish brat is always calling me every other minute, not considering about a person’s private business. What if I’d been in the shower or on the toilet, huh? I have work to finish too, you know. I’ve got to make a living. I can’t afford to be spending half my day with a clingy, needy high schooler. Try being considerate for once. Why don’t you hang out with Minhyun if you’re lonely? He’s your best friend, not me.”

Seongwoo turned back to the drawing with a cute tiny shrug. “Hmm-hmm~ (meaning: I dunno). Minhyun is boring compared to you, hyung. To be honest. I know everything about him and vice versa, so there’s not much to talk about. He doesn’t have the same interest in drawing nor can he answer any of my questions. He never remembers what we talk about these days and he doesn’t worry about things like the future or the purpose of existing because he’s comfortable following the path his parents want. We’re different and sort of drifting apart as we get older, I guess, so hanging out with him isn’t the same as it used to be. Plus, he’s been…sort of strangely unpleasant…It makes me uncomfortable, so I’d prefer to be alone instead…”

Daniel hummed, nodding slightly in understanding. Indeed, he had an idea of what he was talking about since he’d seen some of it himself. Although Minhyun didn’t remember what happened whenever they bumped into each other in the shadows, his personality was slightly altered from it. These days it was clear to the creator that Minhyun was developing feelings for Seongwoo as more than a friend and that he seriously hated Daniel for stealing his attention and time. He was more expressive about his secret feelings for his friend and that caused stress and troubles for Seongwoo in many ways, although Seongwoo hadn’t mentioned if he suspected the reasons for Minhyun’s character shift.

Daniel was half-joking when he suggested, “He’s probably just jealous because you see him less. You told me you like guys, so why not just date him for real? You’re already engaged and you have a large fandom. Might as well give some of those fantasies a try--”

The pencil led snapped as it got shoved into the paper. Seongwoo glared up at him, oddly tense. Daniel grinned sheepishly, already apologetic for the thoughtless teasing. Dating and his relationship with Minhyun was a touchy subject that automatically set Seongwoo on edge, making him not so pleasant and cute.

“I told you a dozen times now I don’t like Minhyun like that. I’ve even told him several times now I want to call the engagement off. It’s annoying though because he agrees and gets all gloomy, making me feel guilty and worry I lost a friend, then he forgets about it by the next day. I’m so sick of repeatedly breaking up with him, being the bad guy, having all his fans turn into my haters harassing me as payback. And you ask me what? To date him for real? That’s absolutely counterproductive!”

“Maybe things will be different if you just set a date for the wedding though. And give into him, since it seems like a decent guy that really cares for you. He forgets because he was hurt and doesn’t want it to happen. Maybe the story is meant to go that way for you two. Fated best friends to affianced to real lovers, like many readers are hoping for.

Even though it’s something I’ve been designing, as you know well, characters take on a mind of their own and lead the story in places I didn’t originally think of. Sometimes we just have to go along with where our characters want to go. It makes the story proceed naturally. So, if you just follow your heart and go with the flow, then it could lead you to church bells and a happy ending.”

Seongwoo scrunched up his button-tipped nose so high that it was at risk of getting stuck between his eyes. His onyx-colored, gentle doe eyes were still narrowed, miraculously sparkling like the Milky Way seen through a telescope, absolutely mesmerizingly. If he wasn’t careful, he felt like he could get lost, journeying through them, exploring the various, intense emotions he found there. Seongwoo was a lot more sensitive and deep than most people in his twenties he’d ever met. It made you want to get to know him, find out what made him tick, what strenuous difficulties had he experienced in his young age to be so mature and complex.

“I don’t like that idea still. I don’t want him to like me. Being with him, that’s not following my heart. I have feelings for...someone else. I’d like to follow that instead. But it’s just…I’m waiting for that dense idiot to realize it and take me seriously, that’s all.”

“Oh? So, baby Seongwoo is in love with someone~ I’m curious who it could be that tickled your frozen pickle of a heart. Are they in your class? Or your academy? A neighbor, perhaps? Hmm, well pretty much everyone’s an idiot compared to a genius like yourself though…”

He didn’t catch Seongwoo mouth ‘it’s you, you dumbass’ since he was staring at the nearby book shelf, pondering over the characters he knew of that had any interactions with Seongwoo in the past. Daniel couldn’t think of anyone specific that could develop a new, entertaining love-line though. He’d simply have to see how the story went, feeling excited and anticipating what might happen in the future like his readers felt. In some ways, he was happy that Seongwoo kept his story unpredictable and exciting. It was less work for him, actually, while he also got to reap the benefits.

“Well, whoever it is, I feel sorry for them. Because who knows what Minhyun will do when he feels truly threatened about to officially lose his precious loverboy. He’s got the potential to be a truly nasty villain type. Love changes people drastically. Especially guys like him.”

“If anything happens as I don’t want it to go from now on, I’m going to change it. Even if I have to follow you out and force your hands to move myself. DON’T mess with my love life anymore, you got it? I have enough pressure as it is.”

Daniel raised his hands up defensively as Seongwoo slammed his hand on the desk, glaring fiercely like he might punch him any moment.

“Eesh. So scary. Okay, okay. Ease up, kitty. I almost shit my pants there.”

“Meow~”

Daniel raised his eyebrow. The cat he’d left there appeared from underneath the bookshelf as if he’d been called, rubbing up on his leg and giving him a look like ‘yes?”

“Kitty?” he curiously murmured as an experiment.

The cat meowed again, seeming happier at having his name called, slowly blinking his yellow eyes as a method of affirmation. Daniel snorted, then gave Seongwoo a judgemental glance. Seongwoo was back to sitting with proper, stiff sort of posture, pretending to be intensely focused on his drawing though he was only shading some area that hardly needed it along the leg of the tower.

“So original. You named that cat Kitty of all things. Not anything different from naming it after its color, like Blackie or Brownie.”

“I was thinking Yaongie or Nabi but Kitty sounded cuter…” the student murmured, ducking down but unable to hide his mortification from showing in his pointy ears.

Daniel laughed, reaching forward to affectionately tug at one of the heated, tinted parts. “What terrible naming sense. Not one of those are original or creative at all. You’re sure you want to be an artist?”

“Ouch~” Seongwoo whined, trying to push off the elder’s pesky, large, super warm hand but not successful.

“That’s what you get for being such a brat. Threatening to mess up my story lines even more than they already have been. Showing up where you aren’t supposed to be. Refusing to like the person you’re destined to be with. Turning all the attention of the readers on to yourself. Yanking me in here whenever you feel like, making me and my assistant unable to sleep for two whole days in order to finish my deadlines.”

Seongwoo smiled triumphantly, the epitome of a glowing sun. Daniel let go of his ear to slap his own mouth, realizing he’d been careless and said too much. He should NOT have said that last part. Seongwoo had already latched onto the notion and was making rapid connections with that genius brain of his.  
“You have regular deadlines? I guess that means this world isn’t for a movie, drama, animation, musical, or a play then. Those scripts would have been written already. So, are you a novel writer? Or fan fiction? Or something like a webtoon artist maybe?”

Daniel went to refuse him or say ‘no comment’ with a cheeky grin as he usually would. When suddenly he was struck by the will to experiment. He wondered if he happened to blurt out the truth, what would actually happen. Maybe Seongwoo would simply forget it after the page turned like others did. Maybe he would accept it coolly like with everything else thus far. Maybe he was overthinking the consequences after watching too many introspective, futuristic sort of films. It would be nice to have this burdensome secret not pressing down his shoulders anymore, honestly.

In the back of his mind, somebody was screaming at Daniel to stop continuing with this crazy idea but he didn’t feel like listening. Curiosity and rebelliousness got the better of him this time, as if some of Seongwoo’s most troublesome characteristics were contagious.

“Actually, I’m a webtoon artist, Seongwoo-yah. You’re inside a comic that I’ve created. We’re now in the twelfth volume, chapter five. You’re a character that I drew living in a mansion that I designed based on millionaire houses I saw through Google on the web. Though you only know it as Booble because of the copywright. It’s a sort of parallel universe, mixing many different countries but the language and culture is predominantly like Korea.”

As he explained many details seriously, Seongwoo remained completely still as a statue, staring up at his face, only slowly blinking his lustrous ebony lashes. There was an odd sense of being lost and empty in his large onyx eyes.

“Seongwoo? You okay?”

Daniel was in the middle of searching the other’s ghastly pale, completely blank face with sincere concern and regret when he was forced rather painfully out of the comic. It felt as if a hard object hit the center of his chest, shoving him back.

Once the artist caught his footing inside his office space, he tapped on the glass surface of the tablet. He flipped back several pages and then forward. He couldn’t find the scene that had just occurred between them. Usually, it appeared immediately, give or take ten seconds here and there. Although five minutes passed with Daniel flipping through in panic, nothing new appeared besides what he’d already written before he’d been called inside.

There wasn’t, in fact, Seongwoo appearing anywhere recently at all. Within the panels of the classroom in the beginning of the chapter where he’d most certainly been present, the front desk by the window was even empty, not even a notebook or pencil resting on the desktop. There was no one mentioning where he’d gone off to. Even Minhyun wasn’t even glancing that way, as if it was perfectly normal for that desk to be empty.

“Huh. Strange. Where’d he go? Did the reality shock him too much that he’s skipping school? Or did he get completely removed from the story after knowing the truth? Seongwoo, you’re okay, right? You’re not wiped out of existence, right? You still exist somewhere in there, I hope. If you’re not alright, if you’re in any kind of danger or distress, just call me back to wherever you are and we’ll talk through it. I’ll help you. I’ll explain more. Hey, you hear me in there, brat? Just call me if you need me, seriously. Don’t stay cooped up in your room all the time, it’s not good for your health! Yah, Ong Seongwoo!”

He stopped tapping and shouting into the tablet speaker once he realized the crazy things that he was doing. He sat up, scratching at his head and clicking his tongue.

“What’s wrong with me? Worrying about some freaking imaginary character. If he’s gone, it’s actually a good thing because no more interruptions. If he’s disappeared from the story for good, then good riddance. Less headaches and more sleep for me. This is the result of rarely sleeping and having my nerves shot by all these supernatural experiences. I need some food and beer, jeez. Let’s call it a night and work on the rest in the morning, or whenever I wake up from hibernating.”

His assistant luckily wasn’t anywhere around then so he didn’t see him coming out of the tablet. Not just yet anyway. Once he saw that, Woong would see that they both weren’t completely delusional about the story having a life of its own, probably think they’re being haunted by a side character who wanted to become the main or get revenge for making his life miserable. Then, he’d probably put himself in a mental facility for treatment judging by how dramatic he was.

Meanwhile, from another tablet that was resting abandoned by its owner inside of a public library in Jamsil, Seoul a tall, slender man as handsome as any professional model and reeking of class and money stepped out. No-one noticed where he appeared from but it hardly mattered. Since he was so incredibly charismatic and stunning that he was glowing, drawing the attention of every person young and old, male or female in the vicinity. They openly gawked at him as if he were a famous celebrity, but he had not much interest.

He was already fully focused on the images inside the tablet he’d picked up. With groomed eyebrows furrowed over his galaxy orbs, he scanned through the colorful pages, recognizing people, places, and conversations he’d heard which were written in text inside of outlined speech bubbles. They were not exactly the same but they were too similar to be a coincidence. His daily life was written here in the form of prettily drawn, colorful scenes.

Everything began to click into place like gears inside of a machine.

_So, it’s true then? After dozens of days, hundreds of questions. He finally blurted out the truth just like that. I was living inside an alternate reality inside of an ongoing comic, a webtoon that Daniel drew to be precise. This is me, that’s Minhyun, our classmates, the teacher…Everyone I know is in here and they look and are dressed almost the same as I usually see them. This is definitely our classroom, the school, and this is my room. It’s just not quite as detailed, soft, and bright as I recall it. Well, it might not be since usually pictures are different than real life, made to be more captivating and pleasing to the eye which has grown used to something duller and darker._

_If we’re all real, then, what about Daniel? Who and what is he? Where is he? Am I in his world at the moment? That large portal led me here? That being…the real world? Where normal humans live, with their own free will? What’s it like here though? How different is the society, language, culture, government from what Daniel drew of my own? He said it’s still like Korea and these people certainly LOOK Korean, though I didn’t hear anyone speak yet. Obviously, we’re in a library so it would be considered rude._

_Is this place still in Gapyeong though? Or some other area of the country?_

_Hmm, the only way I can get any answers without seeming like a crazy person is to find out where Daniel lives. I’ll need him to give me a place to crash, money and food as well. Since I only have my credit card which is probably not a real account number, meaning it’s going to be utterly useless. He probably made up my name as well, considering how he used ‘Ong’ which is a rare surname for Koreans. Or so people always told me in MY world, but if it’s a reflection of HIS world, then it should be accurate. Maybe Ong is common in the real Gapyeong or Seoul or Busan, or wherever this alternate world happens to exist in._

Seongwoo first decided to read the comic entitled ‘I’d Rather Be Ordinary’ from the beginning as quickly as he could, sneaking away with the tablet to another area with the intention of bringing it back to the owner after his reading was complete. He was still in the middle of a brain malfunction while attempting to process the reality of his existence (or was it technically non-existence?). That being that as he suspected everything about himself and his life was made up by someone. After coming to terms with this fact somewhat more, he’d use Google as Daniel said the search engine was originally supposed to be called to figure out the details he needed to know to find where the creator resided.

Seongwoo snorted as he flipped to the character introduction page. His face was there indeed, enclosed in a small circle at the bottom of the list, part of his simple, classy, uniform showing and a pencil tucked above one of his ears. He shook his head while tapping over the colored drawing of himself which had even bigger eyes and shinier skin.

“Hah. Just look at that. I’m clearly the most handsome person here and you only made me a useless, pathetic, predictable side character? Such a dumbo you are, hyung. I obviously have way more potential than that. I should have my own series, one with someone like you as my love interest instead of stiff, dull, predictable Minhyun though. Well, I was in the process of creating a popular story myself apparently. You’re lucky that you’re cute, funny in a dorky way, and sexy or you’d have to be single, unknown, and penniless for life with that impossible level of dumb.”

He spotted Daniel’s name in tiny, cursive font underneath the story title, brushing his finger along it and tapping at the last syllable with a faint smile spreading out, changing his chic features. “I’ll be seeing you soon, Kang Daniel author-nim. I bet you’re missing and worrying about me now. Thank you for being reckless and spilling the beans, pabo hyung. Now I get the chance to learn about everything and meet the real you. I think this is the most excited I’ve ever been.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully now things are getting more interesting. Seongwoo knows the truth and he's found a way into Daniel's world. However, something went wrong in the comic world once he found out, as if he were erased from existence in at least one chapter. Hmm, what's going on? Is Seongwoo a human now or is this all a temporarily gliche? How will Daniel react when his character comes knocking on his door?
> 
> See you in a week to find out! 
> 
> I hope things aren't too confusing so far. If you have a question, just ask!. By the way, I explained in the original post thread about things I've borrowed from the three different stories and a bit about how the worlds and traveling through them works. I'll drop it here once more in case you didn't see or need a refresher. https://twitter.com/NuuGuSeYONG/status/1271642685288284161?s=20
> 
> Let me just remind you, people act differently and of their own free will in the shadows. Once a character is aware, their actions in the story and the shadows affect how the storyline goes. Seongwoo can travel as he pleases through both worlds. However, Daniel cannot, he only thus far has been able to go when Seongwoo pulls him inside. He gets out by waiting for the shadows to pass, since he's not part/doesn't ever appear in the original story. Oh, and that Daniel's assistant Woong is very skittish :)


	3. What the -- ?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daniel steps out of the shower to find – Seongwoo sitting at his work desk in the flesh?! And he scared off his assistant so now he’s got to work on these daunting deadlines all by himself?! The nerve of this brat! (But at least he’s alive…)

“Hey, Woong? Jeon Woong? Where’d that pipsqueak mouse go now? There’s so much we still have to do before the deadline tomorrow. He _better_ be out getting me some snacks to survive working overnight…"

Daniel’s agitated, naturally husky, low voice drifted off, pausing in drying in his hair and dropping the towel onto his t-shirted shoulders. After his shower, the buff blonde had slipped into comfortable sweats and a T-shirt because the weather was a bit hot but he felt bad going around in his boxers since he had company. He couldn’t draw well if he was sweaty and constricted. Now he was regretting it because so much of his body was exposed in front of the gorgeous, neat and dandily dressed Prince Young and Rich spilling over with charisma as he sat cross legged in his chair as if Daniel’s office were his headquarters.

"What the f...?!”

Seongwoo spoke as if Daniel were the one visiting his executive office, completely pompous, languid, and unbothered. “Good evening, hyung. I’ve been waiting for you. Hope you don’t mind the intrusion. I decided it’s faster to come to you for once.”

“Um…g-good evening…How did you…” The blonde stuttered, uncertain how to react or what to say first.

_Was his freaking character seriously sitting in his office right now? This was so unbelievable even compared to the insanity he’d been getting used to of late. That was hardly an explanation for why there was a comic character in the real world looking very much like a solid, regular human!_

Seongwoo smirked, running his fingers along his squared, masculine chin, unknowingly showing off his stunning, sharply chiseled, statuesque profile. If Daniel was able to breathe, he probably would have gasped.

“After you dropped that shocking bomb on me, there was another glitch portal that appeared, much bigger than the one I saw before. I simply walked through it and landed in your world. The real world. I came out through the webtoon you made, I suppose. I’m pretty much a normal human though I can travel at will between both worlds with devices. I can touch things, people can see me, I can’t walk through walls. I’m not a ghost, so you can stop looking at me like that.

I Googled you and found your address. That’s how I ended up here. Your assistant let me in while you’re in the shower. Oh, sorry to say, ex-assistant. He majorly freaked out when he saw me at the doorstep. Screaming that your work was haunted and he was quitting before he got strangled by a vengeful character. He ran out shouting his head off, begging I don’t strangle him. It was pretty funny. You hired such a drama queen.”

Daniel groaned, yanking at his damp scraggly hair. “Ugh. Seongwoo, seriously. I’m glad you find my misery so amusing. You must enjoy making hell for me. What am I going to do without an assistant?”

Seongwoo observed his well-groomed fingernails with an unbothered expression. “Do you really need him? He’s not that good at drawing from what I glanced at. Plus, he seemed skittish, weird, and noisy. He probably was more distraction and trouble for you than any actual help. Am I wrong?”

Daniel sighed, dropping his arms to his sides. “Yeah, you’re not wrong. But still. Another person drawing is a great help, no matter if they’re noisy or weird. I’m never going to get the chapter done by the deadline at this point now I’m working alone. Suzy’s going to strangle me this time, ugh. Why did you have to come out in front of him or on this day? Seriously, the hell am I going to do now? I’m fucked sideways…”

“Hmm, so am I to presume that you’re less shocked about your character coming into your office looking every bit like a human than you are upset about losing your subpar assistant?”

“Uh…I guess. Wait. What? Give me a moment.”

Daniel closed the office door in order to have his own semi-private freakout on the other side. He had of course been shocked to see that Seongwoo was there in his work station, looking very much not transparent and dully colored like himself. He was more on the devilishly handsome side than innocent pretty boy in real life. That haughty pose before and the elegant way he was dressed, his arrogant, confident expression, the evil little smirk on his periwinkle bow lips – he looked like a professional model in his twenties posing as a CEO.

Well, he WAS a future CEO though, come to think of it. Seongwoo, like many of the other elite students in that private school, would inherit his grandma’s kimchi enterprise someday.

The artist had merely been overwhelmed by those things and the knowledge that his assistant was driven away, so the shock about the supernatural occurrence had sort of taken a back burner for a moment. He was getting used to weird things happening to him and Seongwoo appearing abruptly in his daily life being a total nuisance, after all.

“You good?” Seongwoo asked, muffling a chuckle at his expense when he returned.

Daniel twisted the ends of the towel draped over his shoulders with a faint smile, a handful of his nerves set at ease.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just needed that. Now the reality is sinking in. I’m not all that surprised that you found a way here. You’re determined, persistent, intelligent, fearless. Of course you would have jumped on the opportunity to find answers. Well, so now you know everything you pestered me about like a Woodpecker. It’s exactly as I told you. I wasn’t messing with you. There it is. That’s your world there and this is the workplace in my world where it was created from my imagination.”

Seongwoo glanced at the larger drawing tablet Daniel was jutting his chin towards. “I know. I’ve already read all of it.”

“So, now all your pesky questions are answered. You can go back home and stop bugging me. I don’t have time to talk to you tonight, sorry. I have heaps of work left to do. So, nice to see you and all, but let’s play another day, hmm? Get, get~”

Seongwoo’s condemning look at that moment could freeze hell over. He didn’t appreciate Daniel ‘shooing’ him away like a bothersome child. They weren’t that many years apart. He crossed his arms and set his jaw sternly.

“I’m not going back there, with all do respect, creator hyung.”

Daniel gaped, hands flailing in distress.

“What do you mean you’re not going back? You HAVE to go back. That’s where you belong. You don’t have anything here. You don’t have a way to live here, Seongwoo-yah. Listen. Your cards won’t work. Your name isn’t real. Your ID might look the same as mine but the resident number is not real, so it’s considered fake. Without a legal name and number, you cannot open a bank account. You cannot get a job. You cannot buy a car or a house. You will be nothing but a beggar on the streets unless the police arrest you for being an illegal alien.

You look Korean, you have a Korean name, you have cards and all that. But you are not actually a Korean citizen. You might think life is going to be more fun here. That you’ll be freer. But it won’t be. You have more chance at a decent future there than in here since at least there you are a legal citizen. Finish your schooling, inherit your family’s company, continue to draw in your free time, enjoy the luxurious comforts you have. Your life is so much easier the way I created it, believe me. Even with your sickness and boring school and such. Stop being whiny, immature, and rebellious. Go back to where you belong before you get arrested for being an illegal alien.”

“No.”

“Yes, you must. I’m your creator, do as I say.”

“I won’t. Good luck making me.”

“Please? Can you please go back? For now at least so I can work?”

“I don’t want to.”

“We can’t always have the things we want in life. Sometimes we must do what it’s right. Go back in there, Seongwoo, now!”

“Nope. Keep trying to make me, it will just tire you out.”

Their childish argument continued along with some wrestling between the chair and the tablet for several minutes until Daniel plopped down on the floor, giving up for the time being. He had so much to do and think about that he couldn’t deal with this stubborn teenager who wouldn’t budge from his chair, literally. He stared at the scratch marks Seongwoo had left in their struggle. Although he was slender and sickly, he was a lot fiercer and packed more strength in those little muscles than he thought.

“You just hate losing, don’t you? Such a spoiled, rebellious prince. Always have to have things your way. Always doing the opposite of what you should.”

Seongwoo smiled crookedly, his eyes taking on a glint of melancholy. “If things were that way, then I would be happier. Not looking for a way to escape there. My life is far from perfect and I don’t get everything I want, you should know that best.”

“Point taken. Well, I guess even stories have to be realistic when dealing with humans. We can’t have a perfect life or everything we want. Even the rich…”

“Right. The rich have it harder than you think, trust me. Especially when you’ve lost your parents and have a controlling grandma. Anyways, I don’t want to talk about depressing stuff like that. I’ll just get bitter and pissed at you for making my life so complicated. On second thought, maybe giving you a piece of my mind will make me feel better.

Why did you have to pick on me as a side character, huh? I’m sick, forced engagement, orphaned, can’t pursue the dream I want, stalked by half the school, bullied by the main character who sees me as a rival. The list of unfortunate events for me is endless. Is my character based off an enemy of yours you’re getting revenge on? It’s unfair for any teen to have such a miserable life.”

Daniel raised up his hand to stop the verbal bullets raining down on him. “Okay, okay. Don’t forget to breathe. I understand why you’re upset there. I have no comment about it. I designed this story so long ago. You don’t want to talk about your pathetic life, right? So, let’s not. I’ll feel guilty. I wasn’t picking on you though, I’ll say that. You’re not based off an enemy. Some stories need that kind of character is all, one that seems to have everything but is pitiful.”

“Alright, I see. It allows people who envy the rich and popular to understand they also have problems. They want riches less and appreciate what they have more. It’s just all your characters have so many issues though. Do you not like teenagers to be happy? Do you enjoy writing innocent youths suffering? I thought it was supposed to be light-hearted slice of life school romance.”

Daniel couldn’t help but smile. Seongwoo complaining about his story and huffing out his button nose like a baby dragon was quite adorable. He hadn’t seen Seongwoo this angry before. Besides his editor, he didn’t have anyone to talk about his intentions, plots, or characters. It was rather enjoyable. Though it was weird he was hearing the opinion from one of them directly.

“We do suffer a lot though as teenagers. That’s the bitter, unfair reality I want to address. Especially in Korea. School is basically hell here, causing people to either grow up fast or run from it. I imagine it’s only worse for those who are elite. Controlling families, rivalries, being watched by the press, pressure to be the top of the class and get into the best university, arranged marriages. All that. I’m just being brutally realistic.

Besides it’s more interesting to have a bunch of drama and various issues going on that people can relate to rather than easy-going fluff and comedy. People tend to be attracted to a more messed up, relatable, dramatic storyline rather than an ideal one where everyone has a happy, smooth life. Not many people complain even half as much as you just did. Maybe you don’t know an award-winning story is all.”

“Don’t make me kick you,” Seongwoo hissed, lifting his foot in a threatening manner.

Daniel laughed, covering his face. “I don’t think it sucks that much. It’s all personal preference. I will note your thoughts. I should add some fluff and comedy as a rest time from the drama. Will you calm down and go back now?”

“Hah. Do you really think you can get rid of me that easily?” The rebellious teenager stuck up his beautifully sculpted nose, looking down at him haughtily, arms crossed over his flat chest in defiance.

Daniel shrugged, admitting, “No, not really. It was just a distant hope. As expected, it was ineffective.”

They smiled softly in amusement, a relaxed, cozy atmosphere floating amongst them as if they were long-time friends. Despite everything, Daniel couldn’t help but feel like they were close like friends, which is why he wasn’t angry nor in a rush to get Seongwoo to leave. He was strong enough to physically push him into the tablet if he dared to cause the fragile boy injury. Normally, he’d probably let a friend stay the night and then insist he go back tomorrow. These days, having company besides his assistant and cats was rather nice.

Except for the fact that Suzy had warned him about a punishment should he miss out on any more deadlines. He’d been late almost every chapter that month. Mostly due to Seongwoo pulling him into the story and feeling tired from dealing with his talkative, nosy nature and the strange attraction that he felt towards him but was fighting for various reasons, so he ended up sleeping in longer than he should once he finally managed to fall asleep.

“Let’s make a deal. I’ll go back.”

“If…?” The artist responded knowingly with an amused, crooked grin.

Seongwoo’s smile was rather sweet and deceptively innocent. Which somehow spelled out trouble was coming in capital letters to the artist who now knew his shadow personality exceptionally well.

“If you give me a job. I’ll work as your background drawing assistant. You already know that I’m skilled and quick. Plus, I know the world better than anyone since I’ve seen every bit of it up close. It will be a cinch for me to recreate it to meet your standards. I bet you’ll get praise for it being the prettiest settings ever. People will ask if you hired the reincarnation of Da Vinci.”

Daniel snorted and rolled his eyes at the chaebol’s unashamed boasting. Here he thought Seongwoo wasn’t like many other pampered, entitled rich kids, but maybe he’d just been hiding it recently to get on his good side with the intention of hacking his secrets. In terms of his looks, intelligence, and drawing skills, it seemed that he had more knowledge and confidence than his character in the story would suggest.

He didn’t mind it all that much. Somehow it made Seongwoo sort of comical and more attractive. That large vat of confidence gave him a sexy edge he didn’t have before. It matched well with his upbringing, to be honest. He was acting more like a handsome chaebol should. More like Minhyun, in fact. Though he was much more likable and quirky-cute than Minhyun.

“I will go back when you don’t need me around, but not permanently. I’ve noticed the story goes on perfectly fine without me. I’m a side character who hardly has any appearances, remember? Originally, that is. I only appear around Minhyun. Even when I’m gone, no one seems affected.”

“How am I going to explain to readers that you’re not in the story though? They will notice. You have a lot of fans nowadays thanks to your shenanigans hi-jacking my story, making you seem like a main character.”

As expected, Seongwoo didn’t show the least bit of guilt. He merely shrugged, expression as dreamy yet chicly impassive as ever.

“Well, you have your hands. Just write that I’m studying abroad or recovering in the hospital from another surgery. You can just have Minhyun be too busy with his exam preparations and internships to bother with me, because that’s pretty much true most of the time anyway. Originally, you weren’t supposed to be part of the story and I won’t call you back inside so you can just let that fade out. People will forget eventually as the story progresses on the original track.”

“Alright. I suppose it’s possible. Are you sure you don’t want to be there though? Your friends and family and home…”

“As you know, I haven’t been happy even with all of that. I can survive without friends and a fancy home. My grandma hardly seems to care for me. I haven’t even heard from her in months. She’s stopped sending her spies to check up on me because she either trusts that I’m a responsible student or she’s given up on me doing what she wants.”

“Eh, I think she must love you and worry still. It’s family we’re talking about here. Blood is thicker than water.”

“Hmm, let’s agree to disagree on that saying. She only pretends to care about me since she still thinks of me as her potential successor. That’s where I get my stubbornness. That’s the only way that you can tell we’re related. We both don’t like to give in, even if it nearly wrecks us. I don’t want to live the life that she’s set up for me, so I fight her whenever she tries to get me to do anything.

Or you have, I guess I should be more specific. Being sick, taking medicine every day, worrying when my next fainting spell will be, living as a side character only important in my connection to Minhyun or as a triggering plot device for the main relationship, fighting with my grandma for the freedom to pursue the dream job that I want, always being ogled and judged by others in the school, having my career and spouse pre-determined. I’m fed up with that mundane, boxed-up routine. It’s so predictable, boring, tiring, meaningless. I want to do something exciting, something I enjoy, being help to real people like yourself, having a purpose, being free to make my own decisions. No set up track for me to race down. No more strangely perfectly falling in to place life. I want to break free from the box and live a life that’s unpredictable.”

For a long while, Daniel studied Seongwoo as he spoke seriously. After some thinking of various options as well as putting himself in Seongwoo’s shoes in an attempt to understand him, he nodded.

“Alright. I understand why now. If you don’t want to live there that badly, I’m not going to force you. I could use the help and you’re pretty good company. At least you meow in a way that I understand vaguely. I’ll give you a job as long as you swear to go back in the story to play out your intended part from time to time so your fans don’t riot at my front door about why I left out their beloved Prince Seongwoo. What are your terms though? How can I pay you? Would you like cash that you could go outside and use? Or, some other way…?”

“Pay my room and board fees. That’s enough.”

“You mean…you want me to buy you a place here? Um, I’m not ridiculously loaded like you, Seongwoo. My parents are simple restaurant owners. We never won the lottery or inherited a fortune from a distant relative. I had to scrape and work three part-time jobs to get through college without us all going broke. This is just a small apartment for one person, as you can see. I didn’t even buy it. It’s rented with monthly installments. Even combined with the kitchen and bathroom, the whole place is barely the size of your bedroom. I can barely afford this. Comic artists don’t make all that much money, so I don’t think there’s any way I can even pay the deposit on a luxury place that meets your standards…”

“No need. I mean, let me stay here. In your place. For free. With you. That’s the most efficient way, don’t you think? We work together, eat together, sleep together, talk whenever we need to. There’s no need to commute or contact through phones. We save time, energy, and resources. Basically you’d just be spending a bit more than normal on utilities and food, but I don’t eat that much or shower for hours. Anything else I need I can bring from my place. You don’t need to buy my personal items. Such as toiletries and clothes.”

“Huh? You want a job in exchange for living with me in this tiny place? I don’t think you’re going to be comfortable here. It is cost efficient like you said, and we can get a lot more work done without considering commuting time. But, um, s-sleeping together though…”

“Why not? Is your bed a single? Surely not. Your body is too big for that, so you would have at least a double. I’m slim. I don’t take up that much space, especially if I lay on my side. You don’t expect a privileged person like myself to sleep on the couch, do you? Haven’t you made me suffer enough, hyung? Do you know what it feels like to lose your parents on the same day at twelve years old? Have you had surgeries or asthma attacks all your life? Do you know what it’s like when everyone assumes that--”

“Okay, okay. Point taken. Please stop using your backstory to guilt trip me, Seongwoo-yah. Jeez, you’re such a NOT CUTE brat in real life. Whatever you want. I doubt you’ll be able to sleep comfortably though. I have bad sleeping habits and the mattress is pretty bumpy and thin.”

Seongwoo became soft and rather insufferably adorable then when he smiled in satisfaction and performed a happy jig at his win.

“I’m sure I’ll be perfectly fine. I’m not all that sensitive about what surface I sleep on.”

_Since I’ll be sleeping next to the person I like. Nothing else really matters. I’ll be comfortable, content, and happy just being able to see what he looks like sleeping. I bet he’s super cute and childlike._

“Then you should have offered to take the couch…” Daniel grumbled lowly but Seongwoo cheekily acted as if he hadn’t heard, sprouting a cheerful, oblivious smile.

“Glad we’re settled on this quickly. As your assistant and roommate, you can use me in all kinds of other ways too, hyung. I can do chores, shopping, random errands for you, whatever you need. Just think of me as your extra set of hands.”

_Even helping you with some physical needs. I could do that too. I’d be really happy to oblige, in fact. Ecstatic even. I’ve been curious if your proportions are max size in all areas equally._

Daniel cocked his head, appearing dumbfounded as Seongwoo burst into giggles behind his dainty, pearly hands, his prettily handsome face tinted strawberry.

“What’s up with you? Are you that excited to be living as a working commoner?”

Seongwoo nodded several times with a beaming grin, looking incredibly young, joyful, and carefree which was the opposite of his usual appearance in school. “Yup!” he chirped like a baby bird.

_I am on cloud nine level of happiness. The reason isn’t what you’re thinking though. It’s simply because I can be with you twenty four-seven, hyung, that’s why. I can’t wait to live with hyung. Today’s already the best day of my life!_

Daniel shyly flushed and scratched at his neck, awkwardly avoiding the other’s affectionate, sparkling eyes. He didn’t know how to interact with this version of Seongwoo.

“Um, that’s good then. As long as you’re happy, I guess that’s all that matters. Sorry to put you right to work, but I’m seriously in trouble here. Can we start drawing soon?”

“Sure, sure. Where do I work?”

“Over there. That’s your spot. You can continue what he was working on first. Then, I’ll send you more pages and let you know what I want drawn there. You can follow the previous guides if you can’t remember fully.”

Seongwoo bounded over to the other, much smaller desk in the room, plopping on the wooden stool with an ecstatic smile. The idea of using his drawing skills for something made him giddy.

“No problem. My memory is photographic and nearly perfect. Leave it to me. You do your best and send me as soon as you’re done. Fighting, Boss hyung!”

Daniel chuckled, laughing as his eyes stuck on the cute younger. “Boss hyung, pfft. Just hyung is fine, you nerd. Leave the boss and creator stuff out. It makes you sound less human. Good luck. Ask me anything if you’re struggling.”

“Neh, hyung!” His bright response and sharp salut was too adorable that Daniel flushed and laughed some more, distracted from starting his work though the time was ticking.

That first day they worked straight through until they were done with the work at dawn. Seongwoo was naggy, fussy, and demanding about how they worked and how the work space was arranged. He ended up changing everything in the office from the position of their desks, what was allowed on it, how the items were arranged, the kind of lighting they used, how much natural light was entering the room, the kinds of things they snacked on, the levels of clutter and dust in the room. Daniel was scolded for the dishes in the sink and the piled-up, open bags of trash and recycling as well as his clothes scattered around the floor of the house. On top of various other things.

Seongwoo was so efficient with his drawing tasks that Daniel couldn’t keep up with giving him new frames to work on, so in that time Seongwoo straightened up, cleaned, and rearranged half of his house to make it more supposedly appealing and stimulating for his creativity. Even Daniel’s ex-girlfriends had never cared about his lifestyle to that extent.

Seongwoo was like a bulldozer cleaning up the mess of his bachelor life and sloppy bad habits while Daniel was too stunned and also busy with his work to stop him.

Not that arguing would have done any good. He wasn’t that stuck in his ways and what Seongwoo said sort of made sense. Once he changed things and the place was spotlessly clean and organized, Daniel truly did feel differently and see what the incessant, perfectionist genius was talking about. He hadn’t thought that those little things could affect his concentration ability so much.

“You know, you’re really different than how I wrote you originally. You even have this sort of nit-picky home-maker side. I feel like every time I meet you, I learn something new about you. I mean, I guess it makes sense you’d know about arranging and be generally a tidy person considering you’re rich. You probably have to do some chores here and there since you’re an only child as well. Still, it’s a pleasant surprise…”  
Seongwoo paused in rearranging his books in alphabetical order split up by categories. He looked down at the blond with a cheeky smile.

“You really don’t know what sort of person you created? How unobservant. Or is that you have the memory of a goldfish? Ah, do you mind if I ask, just how old are you? Going on fifty?”

Daniel blushed, scowled, and poked him in the side with a stylus. Seongwoo scrunched up his nose as he giggled, apparently ticklish there.

“Not even ten years older than you, so shush! I know that for sure I didn’t give you such a poisonous mouth. The Seongwoo I wrote only ever insults Minhyun if he’s provoked or embarrassed. And he’s not nearly as sarcastic, mouthy, and snarky as you. I think that rather than me not knowing or forgetting, it’s that only the main characters have been fleshed out because it was necessary. I know their personalities well because I write about them a lot. But with other characters, I’ve only written about them a little bit, so not all of them has been revealed. Maybe in the shadows, they’re different and it just wasn’t revealed to me how they truly are. Or maybe you guys feel like your characters are too two-dimensional so you come up with your own extra stuff to fill the void, make yourselves more dynamic.”

“Hmm, possibly. So, you don’t know what happened between the scenes at all then? Before I brought you into the world at least.”

Daniel shook his head. Seongwoo continued his thoughts.

“In that case, there’s things you don’t know about me? And that means in the shadows, my feelings and decisions were all my own?”

“I suppose so. It’s a logical theory.”

Seongwoo returned to messing with the books, seeming relieved. “Good. At least I’m not a complete fake puppet. Sometimes I was myself and made my own choices then. There are things I recall of my life that didn’t appear in your comic. And luckily you can’t read all of my thoughts, since as a side character it’s not important.”

“Does it bother you that much? Being real or in charge? I mean, it’s not like it wasn’t you…” Daniel wondered, observing Seongwoo and secretly admiring his profile and beautiful features.

“Put yourself in my shoes, hyung. How would you feel one day knowing that everything about you, all of your memories, are made up by someone? Suspecting that all those things you thought were your choices in the last eighteen years might not have been yours in the slightest at all?”

“Right…I guess I wouldn’t be too happy about it either. I’d wonder who I was. If what I’m thinking, feeling, liking, or disliking was real, if the people I’m friends with even like me – just how much of the events in my life was my own choice. It must be difficult for you to adjust.”

Seongwoo placed his hand on Daniel’s shoulder who was looking at him with a pitiful expression and apologetic puppy eyes. The fact that it was warm, soft, and solid made Daniel’s blood stir and a shiver flow down his spine.

_He can touch me. I can’t see through him. He even feels like any other person. Completely whole and with a normal temperature. This is so weird, but the contact feels pleasant too. More than pleasant. I wouldn’t mind if he touched me a lot more often with those silky smooth fingers, maybe some other places. How nice would his warm, flawless, supple skin feel on my own?_

“It’s fine now, hyung. I’ve accepted it and right now I’m fully myself. I think. Not only as you wrote.”

A minute later, Seongwoo finished arranging to suit his own picky tastes, then sat back down at his desk with a bored, sort of lost expression.

“Nothing to do now?” Daniel guessed, feeling amused.

It felt strange to see Seongwoo being still and doing nothing after several hours of him flitting about like a bee during Spring, those pretty, elegant hands always busy moving, picking at, or wiping something in the disaster area he called home. It reminded him of a knock-off Sims game where you got points for doing housework.

The younger shrugged. “Yeah, I can’t really think of anything else to fix. I’m fresh out of ideas. I mean, considering what I have to work with. The rest requires shopping.”

“Was it that bad? Are you planning to remodel every room? I didn’t know you had an interest in interior designing. We’ve found yet another talent to add to your arsenal.”

That precious round, upturned nose scrunched, causing a series of wrinkles between his groomed, dark brows. The endearing expression made Daniel curl his fingers into his thigh as he resisted the urge to squeal. Damn, sometimes Seongwoo was the cutest thing ever.

“Yes, it was awful. Now that I’ve put in my blood, sweat, and tears, your place is somewhat livable. It doesn’t look like you’re a hopeless bachelor anymore.”

Daniel smirked, teasing lightly, “So, you’re saying that it looks like I’m well-taken care of and married? You’re calling yourself my wife? Well, I must admit, the way you’ve been acting today certainly seems like one. I thought I’d find that sort of obsessive caring annoying, but it’s nice. Thank you, honey.”

Seongwoo fake coughed and cleared his throat, turning to the table and busying himself wiping imaginary dust (he’d already cleaned their desks twice).

“Who said I did it because I care about you? I just hate clutter, dirt, and nasty smells is all. It’s distracting on top of bad for your health. I did this as your assistant, to best help our combined levels of productivity. Nothing more, nothing less. Don’t speak such nonsense. I’m nobody’s wife nor am I wife material. Save your honey for spreading on toast. I’m a boy, a student, soon to be an adult man.”

“Hey, hey. I wasn’t insulting you or saying you’re not masculine, Seongwoo. Calm down. I meant it as a compliment. I was just having a little fun. Thank you for thinking of me. That’s what I want to say. It’s very nice of you and I appreciate it. Any place I’ve ever lived in has never looked this good.”

The prickly boy was soothed by Daniel’s genuine comments, like when you pet a scared hedgehog his spines visibly drooped. He scratched at the worn-down table edge with a pleased, saccharine smile that made him look even younger. Which made Daniel feel more like a criminal for imagining kissing those wavy lips every other hour.

His smiles were really something else, a treasure that deserved to be protected and worshipped but that he’d prefer were reserved for himself. Seongwoo only seemed to smile around him and in the shadows. After several times of looking through his story from the beginning focusing on Seongwoo to get to know him better, Daniel realized that his genuine smile was a true rarity. He hated it though when the cause was Minhyun. The only people that could get him to smile besides things he liked were Minhyun and himself. Though he liked to think that somehow the smile that Seongwoo showed around him was sweeter, softer, more genuine.

“Hyung…Can I ask you something about your story?”

“Hmm? Is there still more you have to ask?” Daniel sounded astounded.

Seongwoo nodded slowly, nibbling on his lower lip with a rush of bashfulness.

Figuring he’d made the younger feel hesitant, the artist reassured gently, “I don’t mind, ask anything. I’ve got nothing to hide at this point. I’ll take a break and you can interview me.”

That made Seongwoo giggle which was a truly magical sound. Daniel beamed and his heart flipped like a coin every time that he heard it. His shoulders raised up as well, proud of himself for doing something that was near impossible for Minhyun even. Seongwoo’s laugh was even rarer than his genuine smile. It was even more angelic and precious as well. With healing, floating in mid-air pixie dust like powers.

Seongwoo glanced at him, seeming hesitant and nervous. Then, he turned back to the table, fidgeting with the clicker part of his pen as he murmured, so soft Daniel could barely hear him.

“In your story, there’s a character named Seonho. He was written there as my first love. I was wondering why you gave me that cruel heart break. What was your purpose in that? Do you enjoy emotionally scarring people that much? Or were you writing your own experience inside as a way to heal or bring awareness about homophobia? Were you struggling with your own gay panic issues possibly?”

“Huh? Seonho? Your first love that broke your heart? I don’t recall writing something like that, sorry. Maybe it happened in the shadows.”

Seognwoo shook his head, a moment later showing Daniel exactly the pages. Inside of the first volume was a short side story written as a flashback. It contained Seongwoo’s painful story of falling for and losing one of his friends, how he learned that he liked boys officially and the start of his struggles with expressing his personality and emotions honestly which contributed to why he was so closed off and mysterious in the original story. It sort of vaguely came back to Daniel as he read it, but he felt bad that he couldn’t say specifically why he’d written that.

“It might have been based on something I watched or read before? I haven’t had an experience like that. I’ve never had a crush or dated a guy in my life. So, it wasn’t my own story. I’m sorry that I cannot recall why I wrote that in there. I made you hurt badly, huh? From early on, I was torturing a sweet, innocent boy like an asshole bully…”

Seongwoo shrugged, setting down the tablet and staring wistfully at the drawing of a male student who had a remarkable resemblance to Daniel besides a more intimidating aura.

“It’s not a big deal. Doesn’t hurt worse than recovering from surgery. It’s in the past and I got over it. Some people are like that in the world; nothing much we can do about it but hope for them to have some sort of life-changing experience that opens their eyes sometime in the future. But, I was just wondering why this character image…Because you look alike, so…”

“Neh? We do? Hmm, oh….Yeah, sort of…” Daniel admitted after looking closely at the picture. The build wasn’t the same, but most of the features and hair were similar to himself. “I swear I didn’t mean to. It wasn’t a conscious decision. I don’t believe I was projecting, but…”

He didn’t admit it and tried to hide his own surprise at the resemblance, but Daniel’s mind was a storm once Seongwoo pointed out his similarities to Seonho. He wondered if maybe he’d had some sort of secret desire to be with a guy like Seongwoo even back then. Maybe he had known that he was possibly bisexual and he was inwardly battling with social issues regarding that. Seongwoo was roughly based off the looks of the idol Muyoung that had made him first feel those confusing things. He could have subconsciously written his fantasies and conflicting feelings about his orientation, if he should pursue or come out about it from long ago in the story.

How could he have put himself physically in there though? And even been such a jerk to the person he supposedly was attracted to and admired at the time. Was he a masochist? Was he the sort of person that liked to bully the one he was attracted to until he cried?

“I was surprised when I first saw you. I thought you were Seonho. It was like seeing a ghost from my past, bittersweet and frightening. Which didn’t make any sense because you seemed so nice and concerned for me. You don’t mind touching me but Seonho would have chopped off his hand before doing so. Thinking that I have some contagious virus, as if being gay is a sickness. After he found out about my feelings, everything about his attitude changed for the worse. I’m glad it was a mistake. I didn’t ever want to see him again, so…”

“Sorry if I made you recall bad things, Seongwoo. I’m not homophobic like he was. I don’t mind touching you at all. I’m different. See? Only our looks are similar.”

Seongwoo smiled softly as he gazed down at Daniel’s hand resting on his arm, thumb brushing the other’s supple flesh in comfort. It was embarrassing and he wanted to pull his hand away, but for a different reason. The longer that he touched Seongwoo, the more his skin tingled, his stomach twisted with knots, and his heart pounded. Also, the more that he wanted to touch him with both hands, maybe pull the smaller, cute, pretty boy into his arms for a hug.

He looked so shaken up and gloomy then, Daniel was itching to comfort him physically. The best thing for dealing with sadness was a warm hug. Though he wasn’t sure if Seongwoo would be okay with that. He knew that Seongwoo had an issue being touched unless it was from someone close to him. He wasn’t certain if they were all that close, but he wished they were. He wished that Seognwoo thought of him as a friend or a close older brother like he thought of him as a close dongsaeng.

“What about me? How did you think of my character? Was I based off of anyone?”

Daniel removed his hand, feeling awkward and unable to meet his eyes. “Um…Sort of. Just in appearances. There was this singer my mom liked a lot when I was younger. I sort of mixed his looks with the sort of person that I thought would be an ideal boyfriend type. That’s how you came about.”

“Oh. Interesting. So, I have your ideal personality if you happened to like a guy, huh.” Seognwoo was biting a smile down but Daniel didn’t understand why. “Can I see who? Just out of curiosity.”

“Sure. His name’s Muyoung. He started as an idol singer, but he’s more known now as an actor. He’s won quite a lot of awards and has a large fanbase.”

Seongwoo got a bit upset when he saw the photos. “Eh~ I’m hotter than this guy. How could you possibly compare us and say we’re similar? I’m insulted.”

Daniel merely smiled, secretly thinking that it was true. Seongwoo was so hot that just being around him sometimes gave him arousing tingles and brought on naughty fantasies that he really shouldn’t have. Since that time Seongwoo had attacked him in the bedroom, he kept getting rock hard boners that refused to go away once he had a thought of kissing him a second time, this time not on accident.

That curiosity led him back to watching gay porn clips. It had been a long time since he’d had a decent fapping session. It was such a relief to have a normal sex drive and get out that hormonal stuff built up which made him more stressed and on edge. However, it was disturbing how he kept imagining Seongwoo’s face on the actors when he was doing it, especially just how much more turned on he got.

He could accept the fact that he was likely bisexual. The reason it was embarrassing and he felt guilty every time that he came face-to-face with Seongwoo after that was because he was still a student. They had a large age gap. They were resting at completely different points in their lives, one a career-focused adult, the other focusing on exams and what to study in college. It felt as if he were committing a crime, though it was true that Seongwoo’s looks were much more mature than any teenager should be since his looks were based off a singer in his twenties. He blamed his inappropriate urges on that factor, cursing himself for tying the knot on his own noose.

They continued their break while eating some ramen that Seongwoo cooked, insisting that it was one of five dishes he was a pro at making. Daniel didn’t mind because it was his favorite food but he did feel bad that a guest who was younger than him was doing all these chores for him on top of drawing and dealing with the shock of the reality of his own existence.

“If you need help, just let me know.”

“You can help by not hovering. If you want to be useful, set the table.”

“Alright. Making myself useful. Be careful not to burn yourself.”

Seongwoo epically rolled his eyes nearly through the ceiling, looking a lot more like a teenager. “Now who is acting like the naggy wife, huh?”

“Well, I’m just a little worried. You’re famous for being clumsy and you’re a chaebol. It doesn’t make sense that you could make a meal without having an accident.”

“Tch. Such prejudice against the rich. You forget that I live alone.”

“You must have a maid that takes care of all the chores and cooks your meals. You can’t possibly clean that mansion by yourself or you wouldn’t be able to maintain your grades.”

“Yeah, sure. I have one but she comes in only to clean and stock the fridge a couple times a week. We aren’t close and it’s not her job to cook for me. I don’t like to always eat out or order delivery. It’s not healthy or good for the environment. I learned how to cook around ten dishes that I like to eat. And I can do it without burning the kitchen down or bleeding out. FYI.”

“Hah. So sassy. Your real personality is the opposite of your looks, not the least bit charming. FYI. No wonder you only have one friend in a school of hundreds.”

Daniel teased, sticking out his tongue on his way to the table with silverware in hand.

As Seongwoo stirred the soup and prepared some things to add into the dish to make it more nutritious and savory, Daniel set the table and then sat down, scrolling through the pages they’d completed thus far. He needed to double check Seongwoo’s work for consistency and any flaws just in case.

There was literally nothing that he found to give constructive criticism about, to his chagrin. Every bit of the completed backgrounds was detailed, proportional, and beautiful as a painting. Even though it wasn’t his first time seeing Seongwoo’s professional level drawing skills, he was shocked to see them on a different medium than paper. Seongwoo proved in his first day that he wasn’t only good with a pencil. He must have had practiced with digital drawings and coloring as well. He’d expected it to come across a bit awkward because it was more difficult to learn to control a round-tipped stylus than a pointy regular pencil, especially when it came to drawing curved lines.

“Woah. It’s dang good. Maybe I should have written you as an artist. Your talent is wasted on salting and packaging fermented veggies. Nothing artistic about being a CEO at all.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. As long as I can live out my dreams here and there between the continuation of your original storyline, it’s fine I guess. It’s better than only drawing as a hobby. Life is so boring there, even in the shadows.

I like that there’s someone like you who can give me tips and praise about my art. I like it especially that I’m healthy here. I didn’t take my hourly doses of pills like I’m supposed to, but I don’t feel sick at all. Not the least bit out of breath or achy. I’m completely healthy here as if some miracle occurred.

There’s lots of things to keep my interest. I’m worry, stress, and boredom free. It’s even nice to be away from Minhyun somehow. I thought I might miss him because he’s my best friend and always around as far back as I can remember, but it’s a relief instead, like another burden lifted off my shoulders…”

This last bit confused Daniel, causing him to tilt his head and hum like a baffled Samoyed. “Aren’t you two getting closer recently? You seemed so lovey dovey in the last scene at his parents’ place. I thought that maybe you guys are on the verge of actually dating. Shouldn’t you be missing your lover?”

“What lover, tch. You’re talking like the fanatic girls in my class. He’s more like a thorn in my side half the time. Always feeding their delusions and getting them roused. You wrote that scene out, remember? It wasn’t ME doing any of that. We’re just friends forced to act happily engaged as usual. Because Minhyun won’t let me break it off like I want to, saying he’s worried about his parents’ reactions and guilt tripping me into continuing for the meantime.

That dinner stuff was just an act to pacify them. They’re fully convinced that we are soulmates or something just because we get along well. You can’t see it but in the shadows we were just normal friends like any other guys. Not at all romantic or sweet, not physically affectionate beyond the standard amount between buds.”

Daniel wasn’t fully convinced, even with Seongwoo’s disgruntled, scrunched up face. He was still incredibly beautiful when he attempted to move his finely-crafted features in an ugly fashion.

“Hmm. It seems that Minhyun is pretty serious nowadays though. And the act is pretty convincing and natural to anyone. He seems natural and fond of skinship and flirting with you. Are you sure that there aren’t feelings there? If Minhyun didn’t like you, honestly, he probably would have broken it to your parents already, not find excuses to continue it.”

The longer they talked about it, the more Seongwoo’s annoyance seemed to grow. Though Daniel still couldn’t wrap his head around why he hated the idea of being Minhyun’s boyfriend, since in everyone’s books before he came into the picture, they looked stellar together.

“I don’t know if it’s excuses or what he’s overthinking these days. I know that I don’t have feelings like that for him though. I think because of my dumb sickness, he feels like he needs to stick to his promise with my parents that he will take care of me. We never know when I could have a spell and disappear form the world. So, he feels responsible for me, wants to keep me happy and well. Since I live alone and have no other friends basically.

Maybe he’s confusing those feelings of kinship and obligation for romantic love. But hopefully it’s just an act for him as well. I’d hate to lose a friend by having to reject him if he caught honest feelings. I care about him too but not so much that I can’t survive without having him in my life every day. The way that he’s protective and clingy these days is confusing and just makes me feel smothered.

So, it’s probably good for us to have space. He can take this time to sort through his confusion. He’ll realize that he doesn’t like me that way. As for me, I just want to have my first relationship in a normal way. Just like everyone else, I want to meet a person I genuinely like and gradually get closer, letting the mutual good feelings fortify.”

“How will you get closer to anyone if you’re not in the story though? Will you draw it? I’ll let you if you want that. Whatever is needed to make you happier. I feel like I really owe it to you for making your life and background stories so pitiful. Maybe I really went overboard there. No teenager deserves to have such a miserable life, as you said. You’ve really been through a lot being only eighteen. You deserve happiness, starting with being able to flirt with the person you like. So, go ahead and do as you please. The story is so messed up now, even I don’t really know where it’s going now haha.”

Seongwoo also chortled, following up with a nip at the edge of his metal chopsticks. “Actually….There is someone that I like already. But he’s not in this story. He’s somewhere else…”

“Really? He’s from another story? Hmm, I don’t recall what specific stories you like to read or watch. Is there some way that I could help you with it? What story is he from?”

“You don’t need to do anything. I think that I’ll be able to get closer to him now.”

“Ah, really? I’m really curious who this is. Hmm, who caught the interest of the pickiest aristocrat alive? When you feel like it, you should tell me. I’ll help you get your man.”

Seongwoo dropped his chopsticks with a clank, rubbing the prominent bridge of his nose and shaking his head while the clueless blonde slurped up a large wad of steamy noodles.

“Really hopeless. As dumb as a dang rock.”

“Hey! Are those insults directed at me? Now, that’s unfair. How am I supposed to know who you like without any clues, huh? I can’t possibly remember every detail of my stories, you know. There’s a lot of chapters and tons of characters. No one drew me with an IQ rivaling Einstein, okay? If you’re going to keep being nasty like that, insulting your elders, then I’m not going to be nice to you anymore. I’ll kick you out on the street if you act disrespectful again, I swear.”

To pacify the enraged elder, Seongwoo transferred every piece of chopped, juicy, pepper-flaked ham to his bowl because Daniel seemed to like them. He smiled sweetly, acting cute and innocent, turning on his deadly charms to get in his crush’s good graces. He might be seriously oblivious and dumb as a doorbell but Seongwoo still really liked him.

“Hyung, don’t be angry. I wasn’t talking about you. You’re completely mistake n. The food is good, right? Not too spicy or too salty but not bland. Eat more. You’ve been working hard.”

Daniel suspiciously glared at him, debating whether he wanted to continue being angry and scold the disrespectful, mouthy teenager some more for his own sake. He had some sense of responsibility as an adult to make sure that the next generation of youth didn’t enter the adult world as total savages (they might end up like that Bae Jin guy, who was a villain disguised as a fairy). It was disadvantageous for society. No matter that Seongwoo was everyone’s ideal boyfriend in many ways such as talented, capable, handsome, gentle, artistic, intelligent, rich, and such. That was no excuse for him to be rude like that, badmouthing his seniors directly in front of them.

He threatened in a low, flat, no-nonsense tone, “You need to be retaught basic manners, Ong Seongwoo.”

The brunette flashed a sheepish, pure as white lilies sort of smile in an attempt to appeal to the blonde. “Sorry, sorry. I’ll watch my mouth, promise. I really wasn’t badmouthing you though, hyung.”

“Tch. A smooth-talking liar. Makes sense considering you’re a dashing snob. They must have some special classes about that. How to be an enigmatic, convincing liar.”

Seongwoo laughed softly, eyeing Daniel’s hand as he put some ham pieces back into his bowl. He was relieved that Daniel didn’t seem angry at him anymore. He missed the other’s gorgeous smile, although in truth when Daniel was pissed, irritated, or seriously focused, he was incredibly sexy.

“So, you find me charming? How so? When is it that you think so?” he asked eagerly.

Daniel refused to answer, mysteriously grinning as he poked Seongwoo’s wavy, light pink lips with the corner of a piece of soaked, dripping ham. “Eat. Don’t give me your pieces. You need the protein. You’re a weak, wispy stick of a boy that’s young and still growing.”

Seongwoo bit half a piece obediently, though he wasn’t so happy about the age commentary the other kept dropping. The way that he saw it, when he wasn’t wearing his uniform, he felt like they were equals, and not so distant in maturity level. They were almost the same height and Daniel looked younger than his age while he looked a bit older. Hence, he wished that Daniel would forget about that and stop putting up their age gap as a barrier. He felt like Daniel looked down on him and unnecessarily coddled him as if he were a baby which no-one would like from their crush.

“I’m tall enough. Far above average. Not like I’m trying to become a basketball star.”

“You wish, psh. You’re not taller than me, so therefor I say it’s not enough. You need to sprout another two centimetres at least. Fighting, shrimpy!”

At his prattling, Seongwoo pouted and glared at him. Daniel merely grinned impishly and observed him as if he were amusing, then poked his chopsticks against his lower lip to eat the rest of it. At his insistence, an irritated, still sulky Seongwoo opened up and snatched away the other chunk of ham.

“Is it good?”

“Of course. I made it. It can’t be anything BUT tasty.”

Daniel chuckled, then ate some more and hummed, nodding in agreement though he hated to feed that massive ego anymore. “That’s true though, completely un-humble as you are. You made the best ramen I’ve ever had. Can you tell me your secret?”

“Nope, you have to be reborn to be as amazing as me.” Seongwoo waited to be scolded for not being humble with a cheeky, challenging grin.

“Amazing, indeed. I won’t deny that. You’re something else, truly. One of a kind.”

That was the trick to change Seongwoo’s mood. He looked down at the bowl, a shy, flattered smile creeping across his face. Daniel continued to chump while curiously observing the tips of the younger’s ears reddening.

_Oh, look at that! Seongwoo’s blushing right now and avoiding my eyes. Is he that shy about compliments from guys? Or is it because I’m older? Or maybe he isn’t used to eating with someone, so it’s a compliment that’s unique? Hmm, whatever the reason, he’s freaking adorable when he’s bashful I can barely contain myself. Forget ramen and ham. I rather want to sna_ _ck on those fluffy squirrel cheeks and pink elf ears!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s the third chapter, woo hoo~ We’re about halfway through now. Sorry that this is the chapter which is the least eventful, mainly full of dialogue. But it’s necessary and hopefully you enjoyed their banter, laughed a bit at Seongwoo’s antics and attitude, and felt touched or interested with their casual/heartfelt chats. They’re gradually getting to know each other and you can see more how they get along well despite being from different worlds, having really different life experiences, and also their age gap. Slow burn is always a delicious kind of pain. 
> 
> Hope you’re not weirded out by them being several years apart, I know that it’s weird to think of Seongwoo younger and calling Daniel hyung possibly. But I think it’s cute and fitting in it’s own way. Sometimes, especially the last year, Ong really acts like such an adorable, innocent baby in need of protection. And Daniel might be an overgrown child in many ways, but in terms of his ways of thinking he’s mature and reliable, very much a stable adult who would be great at giving advice and caring for youngers. From now on, Seongwoo will be the one that travels back and forth between worlds, but the focus will be mainly on their adventurous, comical, fluffy, steamy (??) lives together in the real world. 
> 
> Any guesses on how long it’s going to take before Daniel realizes that Seongwoo is in love with him?? This character needs an award for being so dense and oblivious, aigoo. Then again, that’s his biggest charming point somehow. If you read Oh My Assistant, I’m sure you will fall for Seonho especially, Muyoung is really interesting too because of his intense duality. I probably didn’t fully do it justice but I really love those characters and that story, so I highly recommend you read that webtoon. From chapter 3 a lot of the scenes in this story are based off of Oh My Assistant, btw, so you might enjoy more if you read that first.
> 
> I’ll see you in a week more! Hope that you’re staying cool this summer. If it’s the rainy season where you’re at, be careful of catching a cold! 
> 
> Last but not least! Let’s collect and vote hard every day as much as we can for Ongniel in fanplus and choeadol!!! 
> 
> <3 Raina


	4. Tension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seongwoo starts his dual life as a sickly, bored, privelaged student in the comic and a busy, helpful assistant. His crush deepens and their relationship starts to get subtly spicier. Daniel fights tooth and nail with his intense attraction to a minor (character and otherwise), though he's not in denial of his own growing feelings of attachment. Dense he still is about how the boy feels though, indeed. Though Seongwoo can hardly be more obvious. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the pair, Minhyun is becoming aware. Of the world being different than usual and of the nature of his feelings for his best friend. Issues are brewing~

“Here’s where we will sleep.”

“Hmm…”

Just from that comment and his strange expression, Daniel could practically see three dots above the assistant’s fluffy chestnut colored head. If they were inside of his webtoon, that’s what would have appeared in a speech bubble nearby. It was a sign that Seongwoo wasn’t impressed and had nothing good to say about this situation. Seongwoo had never been that great at lying; plus, he was a bit on the judgmental, cynical side. He believed in saying nothing at all if he had nothing nice to say. He didn’t say pretty things to make others feel better out of sheer politeness, even with teachers most of the time. It was another mark of his sophisticated upbringing.

Daniel tugged at his ear sheepishly. “Sorry, I told you that it was small and old. If you want, I can give you money for a hotel.”

“I’ll survive, I’m sure. I was just taken aback. I didn’t think you’re that poor.”

The tips of his ears burst into flames of shame. “Hey, I’m not poor! I just happen to be lazy. And I’m sort of attached to this bed. It’s got lots of good memories.”

Seongwoo winced, in the midst of sitting down tentatively on it. His nose scrunched up as if he smelled something unpleasant.

“Just how long have you had it? Did you have your first time here? How many girls did you share ‘good memories’ with, by that I mean, how many girls did you bang here? You DID wash the sheets after the last one, right?”

Daniel blushed furiously and waved his hands frantically like a baby bird attempting to fly for the first time. “No, no, no! I didn’t mean that I’ve had anyone in it with me. Ever. Not those kind of memories! I was just talking about it reminds me of my home and school days. I had it since I was a teenager. In my parent’s house. Obviously, I wasn’t inviting any girls there to hook up. My parents are too conservative and strict for that. Plus, if I even bring a girl home to introduce them here, it basically means that I have an intention to get married.”

“Oh. Is that so? That seems exaggerated.”

“Yeah, I don’t like that kind of thinking, so I didn’t make your world quite that old-fashioned. Well, not everyone is like that nowadays. But many people are conservative and traditional like my parents. Meeting parents is only for really serious girls.”

“And you didn’t…”

“Hmm?” Daniel paused in climbing into the bed on the opposite side as Seongwoo randomly cut himself of in the middle of his question, nervously chewing at his thin lower lip.

“Nothing. Let’s sleep. I’m tired. Goodnight.”

Daniel was surprised by the abrupt, clip speech and how Seongwoo rolled onto his side, coolly showing only his back as if he didn’t want to talk to him or was angry for some reason. He glanced at the younger after he sat, wondering if he should ask if he was alright or push him to finish his question. What was it that he was curious about but decided not to ask? Was it something important he should answer to make the other sleep comfortably?

After awhile, Seongwoo continued to remain silent and still as a rock, so Daniel slipped into the covers and shut off the lamp, though the morning light was already visible, making the room not all that dark. “Good night, pleasant dreams…”

The pair couldn’t fall asleep easily. Despite the late hour and their stacked-up fatigue, they were overly conscious of another person sharing the bed with them. They noticed and ended up focusing on the way the other tossed and turned. Their breathing patterns. That tingly warmth when their bodies shifted close. Although they were not touching or being noisy, they could sense each other even when they were on the cusp of sleep, keeping them from fully drifting off. They couldn’t feel at peace or comfortable. Especially because of their nerves and irregular heartbeats.

_Daniel, where would you like me?_

_“Neh? What do you mean?”_

_Obviously, I mean. What position would you like to take me. On my back? Or knees? Or on top of you like this?_

_“Uh…W-whatever f-feels good for you, I guess…”_

_Okay, then I’ll stay here. You feel good, hyung. You’re truly a big guy in all ways, huh? I like that a lot. Just as I imagined and hoped. I like you a lot, hyung. I can’t wait to do it with you. Even if the first time probably will hurt, especially with you being that deliciously thick, I don’t want to belong to anyone else but you, hyung._

_“Wait, wait, Seongwoo-yah, isn’t this a bit…In the middle of the early morning even…”_

_Who cares when it is? When you feel like it, you just go with it. Be it the middle of the night or the afternoon. It’s not good to hold yourself back as long as you have, hyung. It’s been nearly a year since you did it with a real person, right? It hurts and it causes stress and you don’t sleep well. Let me take care of this problem for you, so you’ll be healthier. Just lay back and relax while I heal you, hyung._

_“I really shouldn’t let you but, uh, tss, what the hell. Hmm, Seongwoo-yah, your mouth is so soft…Go down a bit lower, yessss…”_

Daniel’s eyes burst open. The room was fairly bright, suggesting it was late morning or early in the afternoon. He couldn’t get the image of Seongwoo sitting in his lap, hovering over the top of him with his pajama shirt loose and drooping to reveal his smooth, creamy skin from his mind. It had been incredibly sensual as well as freakishly realistic, especially that last bit where he’d been licking his bare neck and chest.

Glancing over though, the real Seongwoo was fast asleep, curled up in the fetal position, hands tucked between the pillow and his head. The epitome of sweet innocence. It didn’t seem as if he were pretending or hiding his mischievous mind. Which meant…

_Shiiiit. You mean! I had a naughty dream while sleeping in the bed with him?! Oh, God. I’m such a creepy, desperately horny pervert. How could I think of a student that way? Even worse, I’m painfully hard right now while he’s sleeping like a pure angel right there, unaware of the danger he’s in. I could have attacked him while I was half asleep because I thought the dream was so real. I could have defiled an innocent minor entrusting himself to my care since I’m supposedly a responsible, reliable adult figure…_

His boxers were propped up like he’d pitched a tent there, some wet spots in the sky blue fabric suggesting that he’d spilled some fluids in his excitement.

_What do I do? I can’t take care of it now. No freaking way. He’ll definitely wake up with the trembling bed and hear my moaning. I should just sleep it off. I’ve done it many times before. I don’t need instant gratification. I can control my dick. I’m not a teenager. I’m an adult. I can be responsible. I’m a good guy. Not an uncontrollable pervert. My hormones cannot dictate my life._

Thirty minutes later though, Daniel couldn’t stand his arousal and the sensual, intense images haunting his brain anymore. His state was exactly the same because every moment that his lids shut, he pictured the same scene or even a steamy continuation of it where Seongwoo made good on his promises. It didn’t help when Seongwoo scooted closer, nuzzling his arm and making low hums in his throat that were unintentionally erotic. He’d started imagining kissing Seongwoo’s lithe, creamy body, being the cause of those sounds but louder and sweeter.

“Fuck.”

Daniel dashed for the bathroom to take care of his pesky problem, afraid that at this point Seongwoo would see his hard-on when he woke up. Which would be not only awkward but possibly traumatizing for the virgin.

After he was finished, Daniel rinsed his sticky body, changed and slipped back into the bed. Seongwoo was sleeping in the middle then, which was intimidating. After relieving his stress, he felt relaxed and drowsy. He laid on his side, facing the younger, a bit too close for comfort but there wasn’t much he could do with his massive size. After a couple minutes watching the angelic boy sleeping close by through slowly blinking, heavy lids, he drifted off with a content, peaceful smile on his face.

“Time to wake up. It’s pretty late. Hyung~ No, you can’t have another five more minutes this time. Seriously, you need to wake up. Hyung, come on~! Oh, the sleeping beast stirs! I see goopy puppy eyes opening, yes, that’s it. Freaking finally. Good morning, hyung!”

The sounds of Seongwoo’s soft chuckles and cheerful voice was the sweetest thing to wake up to ever, Daniel decided. He was smiling before he opened his eyes, greeted with the pretty, glowing sight of the natural beauty hanging over him like a fallen angel coming to bless him with happiness. Seongwoo was sitting cross-legged in the bed, lightly shaking his arm and poking at his cheek.

“G’morning,” the elder murmured husky, half-asleep still, blinking lazily as he peered up at him in an awed daze.

Seongwoo’s sincere, gentle smile was the prettiest thing in the world; it should be considered the national treasure. “Sleepyhead. It’s a wonder you get any of your work done when you hibernate like a bear. I’ve been trying to wake you up for almost an hour now.”

“Oh, this is nothing. I can sleep for an entire day if it’s my day off. Especially after the deadline. Wait, the deadline! Have we missed it? What time is it?”

Seongwoo luckily had quick reflexes. He shifted his head back just in time to dodge an accident occurring as Daniel bolted up-right in panic. If he hadn’t, they both would be suffering a concussion from their heads crashing together possibly.

“It’s about one. I think we still have enough time. But sorry, hyung, I can’t allow you to sleep anymore. Or it will be risky. I figured you don’t want to be rushed. That’s no good for creativity and you might miss something critical while reviewing.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right. Thanks for looking out for me, Seongwoo. I appreciate it. You did a good job.”

Daniel reached out without thinking much of what he was doing. He ruffled Seongwoo’s perfect, slightly wavy hair affectionately. Seongwoo ducked, shyly smiling. It was a wonder to Daniel how many of those stunning, various smiles he was being blessed with.

_Seriously. What country did I save in a past life to get this lucky? He’s gorgeous and that smile is like magical healing powers._

“Sure. I should obviously do that though. I’m your assistant now.”

“Right, right. Indeed you are. You’ve done a great job already, my cute assistant. Let’s get going. I’m getting up.”

The blonde struggled to raise his heavy body to a sitting position, groaning like a geezer with bad joints. He stretched out his arms and rolled his neck, groaning some more as the stiff muscles got pulled.

“Are you hungry? I’ll get you something for brunch.”

“Hmm. I think so? I’m usually not hungry right after I wake up, but I’m the sort – as you can probably tell form all this extra fluff—that will eat whatever is in front of me. Make sure you make something for yourself every morning though; no need to wait for me. You’re too skinny.”

Seongwoo rolled his eyes, clearly disagreeing. “Whatever. So naggy. I don’t need a father.”

Daniel laughed, ruffling his hair again and then bringing him back towards him for a headlock. “This bratty, rebellious teenager. Now you act like your age and show your true colors. I must have been imagining earlier when you were being nice.”

Seongwoo attempted to slide free, whining and pouting. “Hey. I can be nice. I’m not always bratty. And stop mentioning my age already. Being eighteen makes me an adult by anyone’s standards around the globe.”

“Well, you’re still a teen until you’re twenty though. Technically. Teen is literally inside the word,” Daniel teased him relentlessly, refusing to let him go and pissing him off further by messing up his chestnut nest of fluffy hair even worse.

Daniel couldn’t help but continue. It was the most fun he’d had in a long while with anyone. Someone waking him up, offering to make breakfast and teasing him for being lazy, joking around and rough housing like they were close brothers. Seongwoo was such an entertaining, unpredictable, adorable kiddo he couldn’t seem to get enough of. Especially when he was whiny or irritated or giggling (Daniel found out that his neck and ears were extremely ticklish if you gently rubbed them with your fingertips).

“Hey, enough! I have duties to take care of and you have a chapter to finish! Hyung, really! Let me go! You grabby mean bully!” Seongwoo huffed, finally managing to disengage by shoving the elder’s body hard.

As soon as he was free, Seongwoo rolled out of the frumpled bed and scampered to the kitchen like a squirrel being chased by the neighborhood mutt, which was Daniel in this case. Instead, the blonde was laughing, watching the irritated boy go with amusement, his face glowing and flushed from their rough housing and all that blissful contact. He looked down at his tingling hands, his body remembering how delicate, small, soft and squishy the younger felt. Sort of itching to capture and hold him captive even longer.

“How was I that brave? That’s something I’ll have to do again. What a terrific morning. To think, that’s going to happen regularly. Maybe losing some sleep is worth it…”

“Hyung, what’s wrong with your toaster? I can’t get it to work!”

Daniel shouted back to be heard through the walls while sitting at his desk. “It’s broken, that’s why!”

A moment later, an enraged Seongwoo was in the office doorway with the toaster raised over his head like a wild man with a rock as a weapon.

“Why do you have it if it’s still broken? Buy another one!”

“Ah, yeah. I meant to...I will, I will. Soon. So put it down, please. That could bash someone’s head in, you know…Such a temper…”

Daniel attempted to soothe the furious younger, gesturing for him to calm and put down the raised object that looked as if it would be soon be flying at his head. He’d rather not experience how Humpty Dumpty felt.

Seongwoo huffed, dropping the heavy, shining steel square to his stomach. “I don’t know how I can throw this away. You don’t even have a trash bin. I was going to make you coffee, but the water doesn’t get more than lukewarm. Is that normal?”

“Hmm.” Daniel scratched at his pointy, stubbly chin. “It’s been like that for awhile. I don’t know why either. I like hot coffee though. It doesn’t ever come to a boil enough to get hot, so I just give up waiting and drink it lukewarm.”

Seongwoo’s grooned, naturally arched brows practically snapped through the roof, his eyes sparking while his expression was as sharp and chill as an iceburg. His hands gripped the edges of the toaster so tightly they became as white as a sheet of paper.

With biting sarcasm and barely holding back from shouting, “Really?! You were too lazy to even order a new one online? Hyung, you’re ridiculous!”

Daniel laughed instead of being set on edge. Sometimes the nagging, prickly, moody boy reminded him of an arrogant, fussy cat who had a tendency to hiss. Somehow he found it cute instead of offensive. Maybe because he knew that deep down, Seongwoo was quite gentle and caring underneath all those rough edges. He simply had a rude, too direct way, abrasively cool manner of speaking sometimes.

Plus, Daniel’s habits seemed to strangely get on his nerves like he was his parent or wife. He knew that he had some bad habits or some behaviors that were difficult to understand. That was because he looked like an adult but he wasn’t all that mature(some said he reminded them of a pesky younger cousin that never listened), nor did he really care to change since no-one had demanded it of him. He wouldn’t mind trying though for Seongwoo. Especially if it meant he could make him happy and see more of those lovely smiles.

He admitted sheepishly while scratching his head, “Sort of? Mostly I just forget. You can see how crazy my schedule is. That was before I started getting patronized and interrupted by you. So, you can imagine how it’s been recently. I just don’t have that much time and my brain is frazzled.”

Seongwoo stared at the floor, biting his lip and seeming guilty. “Oh. Okay. I guess in that case it makes sense. You can be forgiven. I’ll get you a new one then.”

“With what money?” Daniel teased, then raised up his hands in a sign of mercy when Seongwoo threatened to hurl the toaster at his head like a football with a snarl. “Kidding, kidding. After this deadline is met, we can go shopping together. Whatever you think I need replacing or buying, my credit card is yours to use freely. I’m seriously not THAT broke.”

Seongwoo dropped the toaster again, stunning him with a beautiful, bright smile. “Really? I’ll make a list then. After I scrounge something for breakfast.”

“Whatever is fine with me. Lukewarm coffee and untoasted bread is better than none.”

The deadline was at five. Daniel barely managed to submit the chapter on time because in the middle of his final review before sending it off to his editor, he almost cracked his head on the tablet several times while drifting off. Seongwoo was there luckily to protectively block or rub his smarting forehead, then shake him awake and press the coffee mug to his mouth, insisting that he couldn’t sleep just yet and encouraging him to hang in there because his work was almost done.

As soon as he’d sent the email, Daniel apologized to his assistant who was helping drag his heavy, limp body to the bedroom.

Half asleep and resting his head on his shoulder, Daniel muttered, “Wake me up in an hour or two. We have to go shopping before the store closes at nine. So you can make me toast tomorrow. And other stuffs. I like your cooking. And you seem happy doing housework and such. I like…to see…you smiling…it’s super pretty…”

Seongwoo laughed and shook his head. “Such nonsense. You’re really out of it, huh? Just go to sleep, you dumb puppy.”

Daniel was too massive and heavy for Seongwoo to gently set on the bed. He ended up being half tossed, half falling on his own accord. As soon as he plopped onto the surface, the blonde languidly pulled the blankets over himself and snuggled with the extra pillow, a happy, content smile on his face.

“Hmm, sleep at last…how I’ve missed you, my darling…”

Seongwoo pulled the blankets over him more securely, then knelt by the bed, observing the elder. In a few seconds, the artist was still, fast asleep and silent except for a bit of light snoring.

“What is a grown man so precious for?” Seongwoo whispered, giggling under his breath.

He had nothing better to do at the moment, so while he was waiting for soft baby Danny to wake up he decided he’d watch him sleep. He’d wanted to do that last night, honestly, but he had ended up unfortunately falling asleep first. Well, he’d had some chance to in the morning, just enough to know that Daniel grinded his teeth and talked in his sleep. Daniel when he was sleeping was too cute to resist, seeming so much more innocent and infant-like, possibly several years younger than himself.

Seongwoo couldn’t resist touching his hair. It was naturally curly, lush, and soft as feathers. He became addicted to the feeling, loosing track of time as he brushed it, smiling wide and flushing like a lovesick fool. At least when Daniel was asleep, there was no need to hide how he was feeling towards the elder. Since there was no-one to see and judge except for whatever bugs were chilling on the walls.

He rather liked that. Finally, he could have his own little fun secret. There wasn’t anyone able to know about his personal life now since he wasn’t inside of a story being observed by strangers. It was invigorating.

Seongwoo was still there, gently rubbing his head when Daniel opened his prettily shaped, gentle, almond eyes around an hour later. He blinked his shimmering midnight sky orbs in surprise, then smiled softly as he remembered that he’d asked Seongwoo to wake him up again. He rolled onto his back, humming as he stretched his stiff limbs straight out.

“How long was I out?” Daniel muttered in a deep, husky tone thick with sleepiness.  
“Almost an hour. If you’re not feeling like going out, you can just give me your card and point me in the direction of the nearest store. I can go by myself.”

_Hmm, just how much of that were you watching me sleep and patting my head, I wonder? Must have been more than five minutes because I had the best nap ever. I’m curious what you were thinking as you looked at me. Hopefully good things._

“No, no. I’ll go with you. I don’t think you can go by yourself. You have to take the subway and then carry everything back.”

“Oh. A subway.”

“You never have, right? Don’t worry. It’s not all that scary or complicated.”

Daniel thought it was precious how Seongwoo seemed apprehensive at the mere mention of public transportation. Rich kids experiencing the real world was an interesting idea he thought maybe he should find some way to incorporate into his story. Not only was Seongwoo amusing, beautiful, and multi-talented, he was becoming an inspiration.

For the hundredth time since yesterday, the artist was satisfied with his decision to take part in Seongwoo’s deal. He was already way more useful than his last assistant--making his house more livable, his work easier, his stomach full, doing chores for him, providing him food and even ideas. Not to mention, the eye candy was terrific. The artist could probably stare at his assistant for hours if he didn’t want the other to think of him as a creep. Just seeing Seongwoo’s face which was a masterpiece that went beyond anything humans could create with their hands instantly brought on a smile and this feeling of giddiness inside.

“When do you want to go?”  
“Right now. As soon as I can get up.”

“Oh, are you feeling sluggish since you just woke up, hyung? Here, I’ll help.”

Daniel chuckled, teasing a bit, “Hey, why are you struggling so much, Seongwoo-yah? I’m not that heavy!”

“You are though…” Seongwoo groaned as he strained his body at a diagonal angle while yanking at his arms in an attempt to pull Daniel up from the bed.

He couldn’t get his bottom up fully because Daniel wasn’t really helping. He thought it was amusing that Seongwoo was as weak as his slender, dainty, unrefined body looked, as if he’d never touched any kind of weight in his life.

_Ah, that’s right though. Not only is he a spoiled, privileged rich kid, but he’s also been sick his whole life. So, he probably has never even seen a dumbbell. Not allowed to carry something heavy and barely exercises for fear that he’d have struggles breathing which might trigger an asthma attack. It makes sense that he’s a weakling._

_He’s really so small and skinny that it’s concerning though. I guess I’ll have to bring him to the gym I go to or teach him how to use the equipment I have at home. It’s pretty pathetic if he can’t even lift up someone like me. It’s not like he can go through his whole life in this world not lifting or having to push something. There’s not always going to be a strong, helpful gentleman like me around to take care of the heavy duty labor for him._

_He might look like a spoiled prince who has servants but around here he’s not actually one. He’s just a weak, helpless, lonely pretty boy with no real identity or money. Nothing but his smarts, his mouth, his clothes on his back, his charms, those stunning looks, and his own delicate, fair hands. Well, he could honestly get people to do things for him with his looks but he’s not the sort to flirt and ask favors to get others to do things for him all the time, I guess. He usually wants to do things himself and even tries to, but he just physically can’t or wasn’t allowed to back there because someone always jumped in to do it for him out of their concern and affection for him or because they wanted to look good to someone with high status who would be in a future position of power._

Seongwoo huffed as he complained, tugging harder at Daniel’s solid, unmoving body, “Hyung, are you…making yourself heavier…on purpose? So mean, stop teasing and get your fat, lazy ass up…”

“Yah, did you just curse in front of your hyung? On top of insulting me? The person who created you and gave you a place to stay and a job even? I won’t let that go so easily, you brat. I’ll show you why you have to talk to your elders with respect.”

At that point, Daniel did as Seongwoo had been accusing him just to spite the mouthy teenager. He’d only been planning on teaching him an honest lesson, but he ended up a moment later learning one himself. It had been a terrible idea with consequences. Daniel sinking his heels in and thrusting the center of his weight back was too much for Seongwoo’s shaky arms to handle. He ended up letting Daniel fall, his balance thrown off, sending the younger tipping over as well.

As a result, Daniel landed on the bed with Seongwoo laying across him, lower half between his legs and upper half on his stomach, his hands moving to his chest in order to catch himself from falling completely on the elder. His hands were in an awkward position though, cupping Daniel’s breasts perfectly like a bra would as if someone had put them there.

It was extremely awkward to be in this suggestive, intimate position suddenly. They stared at each other in silence with popped open owl eyes and parted mouths, sometimes glancing down where they were touching each other, trying hard not to think about how the other’s body felt. Seongwoo was soft, slender, long, and shapely. Daniel was large, solid, firm, and incredibly warm. Their bodies seemed to fit well together like puzzle pieces, one’s bones and curves the same shape and size as the other nook and crannies. Like they were built by nature exactly for each other, like a puzzle, which was an intriguing, exciting notion.

Daniel prayed that Seongwoo didn’t notice his boner or thought it was just his phone in his pocket pressing into his lower stomach. He counted the seconds that Seongwoo laid on top of him, wondering why he was lightly squeezing and staring at his chest so intently through hooded, starry midnight, spindly lashed eyes. Daniel gulped, staring at the other’s gorgeous face, lingering on those light pink, smooth, bow-shaped lips, wondering if they tasted as good as he imagined—sweet and slightly fruity like cotton candy.

“Hyung, you’re like a B-cup. You’ve got big breasts. Are you a tranny?”

The rather steamy, suggestive moment happening between them was ruined the moment that the teenager opened that lovely yet poisonous mouth of his. Like a bubble bursting from a sharp needle point. Instantly, Daniel became both ashamed and irritated. He shoved the other off.

“Yah! Stop groping me, you rude, dirty kid! That’s pure stacked, ripped muscle, not boobs, for your information!”

“Hyung…Why are you getting so many kinds of ramen? Are you thinking we’re going to be attacked by zombies? This is way too much. You can’t possibly eat it before the expiration date. Put some back.”

Daniel pouted, protecting the packages of ramen he’d put into the cart that naggy, ramen-nazi Seongwoo was reaching for with his arms.

“But I loved your ramen. I could eat that every day. I want to eat more of it. Seriously, it was the best ramen ever. Please make me more.”

Seongwoo drawled after a long, exasperated sigh as if he were losing his patience. “That’s great and all. I can make it for you again, sure. Not every day though. Ramen isn’t the only thing I can make well, for your information. And if you eat floury noodles every day, you’ll die before you’re even forty. There’s a lot of salt and msg inside the soup. Not good for your cholesterol levels. I can cook other things you’ll like as well, I’m sure. With rice and vegetables, giving you a more balanced diet. Just trust me and give me a chance.”

“Okay, sure. You’re the chef. If you say it like that, well, how can I refuse?”

Daniel relinquished his ramen with a bashful, flattered smile. He was already giddy from anticipating what Seongwoo was planning to cook for him next, following the student languidly pushing the cart eagerly, curiously glancing where the other’s gaze was directed.

When the cart was brimming over with groceries including fresh vegetables and uncooked rice, Seongwoo led Daniel towards the home appliances section. He tossed in a trash bin precariously on top of the one ramen package he’d been allowed, some bowls and cups, darker, thicker curtains that he said would allow them to sleep more deeply and faster, some eye masks for the same reason, and random things that he’d been running out of like shampoo and detergent. The last items there wasn’t any more room for, so Daniel had to carry the boxes—a new coffee pot and toaster.

“Did you even make a list? I haven’t seen it but how could you remember all of this?” Daniel commented with reverence.

Seongwoo turned to the awed, slacked mouthed blonde, tapping his temple while smirking coolly. “Photographic memory, told you already. I have the list just in case in my pocket, but I haven’t needed to take it out because I can recall what’s written there.”

“Huh. There’s like fifty things here though. That’s a monstrous list. Just how much is this going to cost me? I mean, not that I mind. But I think I should have an estimate so I can decide which card I need to hand over for sacrifice.”

“Um…Wait a moment.”

_He couldn’t possibly even recall how much each one cost? Can he do math just in his head?_

“I suppose around 350,000 won.”

“Oh. Okay.”

It wasn’t as bad as he thought. He was still amazed and openly gawking at how quickly Seongwoo had calculated that and by how confident he seemed in his answer. Seongwoo was even more talented and intelligent than he’d given credit.

“That will be 353,400.”

He had been so close to guessing the figure that it was shocking.

“Heol. You really are a genius.”

_How did he possibly remember all of that? Kids these days are scary. Oh, wait. He’s a character though, not a real person. So, of course he would be extra-ordinary like this. I wrote him that way anyway. To be extremely intelligent and naturally good at almost everything. Rich people were all probably like that, good at math with a trained memory. Since they had to lead society from the top of their bullion dollar skyscraper conglomerates after all. I shouldn’t be so surprised. Technically, he’s supernatural._

The artist cleared his throat, flashily swiping out his card and passing it over. Seongwoo took it politely with two hands, even bowing as he gently pulled it from his fingers. It was weird to see the bratty, naggy, prickly rebel suddenly being all polite, sweet, and demure like a deer.

“Here you go, Miss. We’ll pay with this card. Can I help you with the bagging?”

“Sure, sure, of course you can. As sweet as you look, aren’t you? Such a considerate young man.”

“Oh, I’m not so nice to everyone. Just it looks like you could use the help. Your little arms must hurt from all this labor.”

Daniel snorted and grinned with amused disbelief, watching Seongwoo dazzle the clerk with his charm as they chatted. It was a wonder how he could switch so fluidly between his many different sides, acting so flawlessly that you couldn’t guess that he was any other way he might act.

This version was the one that appeared when he talked to authoritative figures, the one that was friendly, well-mannered, funny and sweet. The only people he ever sucked up to and acted somewhat sociable with, playing up that innocent side his big, sparkling eyes gave him in the comic were much older adults such as teachers. At least in the comic, he’d been that way.

“Now I’m kind of jealous. You don’t see me as senior enough to be that sugary sweet. Hmph.”

Seongwoo laughed, shying gracefully away from Daniel as he attempted to steal another bag from his hands. They’d spent a couple of minutes arguing about how many each should take, Daniel insisting that he was obviously much stronger and so he should carry the majority while Seongwoo stubbornly insisted he was stronger than he looked and he wasn’t sick now so he could carry more than usual. They ended up with Daniel carrying four bags and Seongwoo three, only one of which was heavy because it had one of the appliances which was the one Daniel was attempting to sneakily steal. The younger’s doe eyes sparkled like shooting stars, suggesting he was feeling mischievous and about to tease him.

“Although you may be older, you don’t look that way honestly. Especially when you’re smiling and sleeping. You look younger than me then. A natural baby.”

“Don’t call me a baby. It’s just leftover baby fat I can’t get rid of unless I diet strictly for several months. Look at how big and manly I am. You can’t call me a baby. There’s nothing babyabout me.”

“Would you prefer I call you a fool? Honestly though, hyung. When you sleep and when you eat, you look really baby-like. I should film you next time, so you have no choice but to acknowledge it. Don’t be upset about it though, hyung. There’s nothing wrong with acting or looking young, honestly. As you get older, no-one will guess your age correctly. You will feel happy when you’re 40 but people think you’re still in your twenties. Just saying. It’s a good thing, really!”

“Ha, a good thing he says. Fine, I’ll call you baby Ddongwu-yah then every time you do something cute like that cat-like blink or when you scrunch up your nose. We’ll see if you can think so positively about it then.

Oh, there’s a chance swinging by right now. Aigoo, so cute, baby Ddongwu-yah~”

Seongwoo gave him pleading ‘hajima~’ kitten eyes, horrified at the idea to the point he’d froze in his tracks. It seemed he was regretting his choice of words that moment. Daniel cackled evilly, taking advantage of him being still for once to steal the bag he was after, smooth as a professional ninja. Seongwoo barely registered until it was much too late, as Daniel was already walking towards the subway station with five bags triumphantly in hand.

“Revenge is sweet indeed.”

On their way back home, it was unfortunately rush hour as they’d spent more time than expected at the store. The subway was extremely crowded. Daniel suggested they go out and take a taxi instead, but Seongwoo insisted that he had no issues with crowds. He said that sometimes the school got like that during events, parties, and when they served special menus at school, so he had some experience. Daniel warned him that those could hardly be compared, but Seongwoo was as stubborn as a mule.

“I’ll survive.”

He repeated when Daniel asked once more, one of his phrases that Daniel caught onto. That meant that the chaebol was sort of uncomfortable but that he didn’t want to speak his mind about it because he didn’t like Daniel to recall how privileged he was, probably afraid that he’d tease him about it. Well, he had though often, to be fair, especially when they first started meeting.

Back then, Daniel had been irritated by Seongwoo continuously yanking him into the world and pestering him with questions he didn’t want to or know how to answer, so it was his revenge. Then, somewhere down the road, he’d done it because he thought it was hilarious how different his world and thoughts were because of his upbringing.

Besides, Seongwoo looked the cutest when he blushed and turned snappy from being teased. Well, nowadays Daniel had seen so many sides that were special and cute about him that they competed in his mind for who was the best, who he wanted to see more – Irritated Seongwoo, happy, smiley Seongwoo, bashful, flustered Seongwoo. They were all great in different ways.

“If you’re uncomfortable or short of breath, just let me know, alright? We can get off at any of the next stops and take a taxi from there. It’s not expensive.”

“Hmm. Okay.” Seongwoo wouldn’t say it aloud but it was obvious that he was grateful for the other caring about him and not teasing him about this.

They ended up face to face, chest to chest in the middle of the aisle as the subway became more and more packed with each stop. Since their hands were full of grocery bags and stuck at their sides, they couldn’t grab onto any of the poles or handles there to stop them from falling over as the train jolted. Several times they fell and bumped against each other, awkwardly looking the other way to avoid their faces brushing, though one time they couldn’t avoid that. Their cheeks pressed together as the train slid to a stop, sending Seongwoo down the aisle. Daniel had caught him, using his arm, knee, and cheek to keep Seognwoo from traveling farther down the aisle or tipping over as people pushed on their sides. Daniel was larger and stronger plus he was used to having to ride an unpredictably moving train while standing up.

“T-thanks…” Seongwoo murmured, breath uneven and face bursting with an explosion of heat at the very intimate contact as well as being shaken up. He was now feeling Daniel’s fit body even more so than before, from his chest to his legs. Getting a stronger whiff of that intoxicating cologne he favored. Feeling their bare skin touching even, which was a rarity.

“You alright? Hang on to my waist.”

Seongwoo felt so light-headed he was almost faint when that husky, gentle, concerned whisper came. “I’m okay, really. I can sta—”

Daniel yanked Seongwoo back when he tried to peel himself away. “Just do it, Seongwoo-yah. Stop being stupidly stubborn. Don’t care what others might think. I’m worried you’ll fall and get hurt. It’s risky for you.”

Seongwoo flushed deeper, jolting at his sharp, commanding tone hissing even nearer to his ear, those plump lips so close to the rim now that he could almost feel them brushing his sensitive, tingly skin. They were probably even softer than the smooth, velvety feeling of his fluffy cheeks still touching his own.

Although it was nerve wracking, a blessing of an opportunity presented itself. As Daniel suggested, the younger wrapped his arms around Daniel’s broad back, lightly clinging to him like they were hugging. Daniel planted his feet on the other side of his own, thick muscles tensed and feeling like a protective cage holding him steadier. His arms squeezed his, the bags lightly bumping his backside as the train swayed. Their faces stayed close together.

They stayed that way the entire ride home, both flushing furiously, shivers running down their spine every time their solid, warm bodies shifted even subtly since they were on edge and sensitive. It was awkward but also exciting to be pressed and holding each other like affectionate lovers in public. They’d both be lying if they said that they couldn’t feel something poking their thighs which felt strangely like an arousal. Though they excused it and shrugged it off as a natural, normal male body function that could happen in this sort of situation.

After getting off the subway, they walked at a greater distance than normal and couldn’t look at each other as they attempted to get their unsettled feelings back under control. They ignored the suspicious bumps in the front of their pants which obviously weren’t any phone or wallet as they’d hoped, neither talking about that strange, unexpected experience again.

As the days continued on, the artist and his assistant developed a successful, stable routine. Every other day, Seongwoo would depart his world through the tablet in the office in order to help Daniel out with his drawing, chores, and making food. Since time flowed differently there, it was necessary to explain why Seongwoo was missing from school for several days. Sometimes the reason Daniel wrote out or Seongwoo commented in the shadows if asked was that he was sick, other times the reasoning was that he was doing an internship helping out an artist and getting tips about his drawing. They had to write it that way, otherwise Minhyun would insist on visiting Seongwoo in the hospital which was problematic since he wouldn’t be there.

Inside the story, Seongwoo stayed low-profile just as he had been before. He hung out with Minhyun during school hours and sometimes afterwards, he quietly sketched and studied, he took walks at his usual park to relieve his stress and think about things, he had to take his medicine on time according to the set of alarms on his phone, he had minor spells here and there though nothing serious enough to be hospitalized.

His life was even more uneventful and monotonous than ever but this time around Seongwoo didn’t complain about it. Since he was aware that he’d be able to leave shortly and go to the place where he wanted to be, where he was free, entertained, hardly ever sick or annoyed.

Besides the flipping pages that Seongwoo could hear clearly and Minhyun being a bit nosier, clingier, and more possessive of him than before his awareness happened, the story continued on as the writer had originally intended. Now that Seongwoo wasn’t rebelliously messing with the flow by deliberately stealing the spotlight or challenging Daniel, calling him into the story, looking like a looney by talking towards the ceiling at random times. The focus of the panels returned to school life and the growing relationship of the main couple. Seongwoo spent most of his days in the shadow world, seeming normal by doing his routines but if you looked closely such as Minhyun could though he was quite strange.

“You’re drawing him again? Do you like his face that much? Isn’t there anything else interesting to draw?”

Seongwoo shrugged, biting back a smile as he admired the sketch of Daniel’s face. Today he’d drawn him wearing a hoodie and snuggling with Kitty, a moment that had happened a long while ago when Daniel had appeared in his room.

At that time, he’d been feeling lonely and also the cat wouldn’t stop meowing which was annoying him while trying to do his homework. The cat whisperer had appeared to help him with both problems. Like magic, the cat had started purring and turned sweet while his loneliness had completely faded.

He remembered watching Daniel and the cat with the goofiest, most obvious expression of a boy deeply in love and unable to hide it. Daniel had fortunately been too absorbed with the cat at the time to even glance his way. Before he noticed, Seongwoo had forced his usual cool, unbothered mask on and returned to doing his calculus worksheet as if nothing had ever happened.

“It’s not that. I just need to practice drawing people. My academy teacher said I needed to be more well-rounded. We have to attempt drawing things we don’t really like until we can do those decently well. She said we can’t necessarily draw things only that we like forever or we won’t be able to make money. We’ll lose money if we can’t do as some request. I’m just practicing for my future is all. He just so happens to have good proportions and soft features. It’s easy to draw for me.”

“Okay, but…The way that you draw him though. Seems like you like him or something. I don’t remember him looking all that soft and pretty.”

Seongwoo bristled, turning into a prickly cactus. “And so what if I did? He’s attractive and I’m not taken. Why can’t I think a good looking guy is nice and attractive? I mean, objectively.”

“Um, I didn’t say you can’t. But he’s kind of like your boss, right? And he’s older than you and from another country, you said. So, he’s basically unreachable, like the stars in the sky. Isn’t it better for you to fall for someone closer by, more your age, someone easily reachable perhaps.”

He didn’t say it but Seongwoo sensed it, especially with the way Minhyun laid his arm over his shoulders and pressed in closer while intently staring directly at him with soft, emotional eyes. It was as if he were asking for a kiss and stating that Seongwoo belonged to him. As if he were saying ‘like myself, I’m here, I’m easily reachable and suitable, so why not like me?’

Usually when these things happened in the shadow world, Seongwoo would shy away with an awkward laugh and tell him not to be that sort of teasing Casanova. It was getting more and more difficult to ignore though when these things happened more frequently, slightly more intense as well. Minhyun truly wasn’t the same friend that he knew. He seemed even more playfully intimate and invasive than the story version now, which was overwhelming and uncomfortable.

Seongwoo didn’t think that he could ignore this daunting situation much longer, though he was worried that a serious talk and a blunt rejection would harm their friendship. He didn’t really have any other friends and Minhyun was definitely important to him in some way. He just didn’t care for him the same special way that he did for Daniel.

The attraction most certainly wasn’t there in the slightest. Which was the real reason it was impossible for them to go beyond friends. Just the thought of kissing Minhyun was repulsive, like siblings kissing would be. Him and Minhyun as an actual couple might seem cute and sweet to others but to him the actuality of it just felt all sorts of wrong with their years of being bros. He couldn’t simply flip the coin from heads to tails.

Seongwoo pressed against his chest, firmly shoving him away, and scooting forward on the bench so that they were no longer touching. His face was dead serious and his tone as chilly as an iceberg.

“Don’t joke like this anymore, Minhyun. We’re not like that and there’s no-one around for you to fool. As my friend, I sincerely wish you wouldn’t tease me like this all the time. Sometimes you need to be serious and act yourself, act normally. I’m going to go now.”

“To him? Why do you have to go see him so often? He’s just some older guy, an average artist with nothing to offer, nothing special about him from what I can see. Are you getting shaken up because he looks like Seonho?”

Seongwoo paused after standing up. He hugged his sketchbook close after closing it, then turned to stare at Minhyun, observing him critically. Somehow something was very odd about him. He was extremely on edge, serious, and moody. Most people didn’t remember Daniel if he mentioned him. How did Minhyun know how often he met him and remember that he looked like his first love?

“I’m going because he’s interesting and fun to talk to and can teach me a lot about drawing. Is that a good enough answer for you? Even though you’re my friend, I don’t appreciate you being this nosy. I don’t monitor who you meet up with, you realize. Let’s continue our relationship with mutual respect and some proper distance, Minhyun. You aren’t my husband, so I’m not obligated to tell you where, when, why or how often I meet someone else.”

“Ah, I made him angry. I just meant don’t go to that guy so much or smile when you’re drawing him because I’m getting jealous and it hurts, that’s all…”

Minhyun sighed, resting back on the bench with his arms stretched loosely across the back. He wistfully watched Seongwoo stomp away with his back coldly turned to him and tensed. He regretted his true, more negative emotions slipping out and speaking not so kindly to his friend. He hadn’t meant to make things awkward or reveal his true feelings yet, but the fact that Seongwoo was getting closer and seemed to like that artsy fartsy older guy he didn’t trust at all had made his resolve crack briefly.

Seongwoo never stated the guy’s name. Whenever he talked about him, he only referred to him as this ‘hyung’ he knew of, one that he’d met at his art academy. They’d become friends and the guy was supposedly mentoring him in drawing. Seongwoo refused to let him tag along.

At first, he thought he’d just been irritated because he wasn’t used to sharing Seongwoo or doing things they usually did together alone. Seongwoo had almost always been free to hang out with him outside of school and he knew everyone he interacted with, what their relationship was, what sort of things they talked about. This was the first time that Seongwoo had a friend that he was rather secretive about and refused to let him meet. It was also the first time that Seongwoo chose to hang out with someone over hanging out with him. Even frequently.

He thought over the days passing by that he was annoyed and upset and hating this guy because he didn’t like that feeling of losing. Then, he realized that he was becoming lonely and afraid Seongwoo was being stolen away from him. Now he was wondering just why was he feeling so jealous and disliking this mystery ‘hyung’, especially hating and feeling uneasy about them being close, enough that Seongwoo thought of him while he drew.

Last week, he’d seen Seongwoo drawing a person he didn’t know, a man that looked very much similar to the person Seongwoo once had a crush on that hurt him terribly. He became even more worried and wishing to come between them since then. He was concerned that Seongwoo was falling for this guy merely because of who he reminded him of, because he was the type he was attracted to supposedly. Which might affect his judgement of the person’s character, which was dangerous.

Seongwoo when he was younger had trusted and thought too highly of that Seonho guy. Minhyun instinctively felt that there was something fake and off about that guy from early on, as if he was much nastier than he seemed to be. He’d been correct about that. He’d taken care of that asshole for insensitively scarring Seongwoo because of his homophobia, though Seongwoo had no idea just what Minhyun had had his family do with their power to ruin that jerk’s life and send him far away never to return again. There was a specific reason that Seongwoo didn’t happen to ever bump into him around town. Because he didn’t live anywhere near there anymore. If he moved back, there’d be serious consequences.

Somehow, Minhyun had an instinctively unpleasant feeling about this guy too. As if he were not who he said he was. As if he had some sort of ulterior motive for approaching Seongwoo. Maybe it was just his prejudice against people that looked that way or because he was older and a commoner, which in his experience weren’t to be blindly trusted by those who were wealthy.

“What am I going to have to do to this guy? Should I find a way to get in between and chase him off before Seongwoo gets hurt again? I don’t like being the villain, but Seongwoo’s important. So, someone’s got to. He’s precious, vulnerable, gullible, and needs protecting, so it’s worth it. I just want him to smile more than he cries. His life has been hard. What’s wrong with feeling like that?

Can’t I be enough for you, Seongwoo-yah? Can’t I be your only friend forever? Can’t I be in charge of keeping you happy the rest of your life? Best friends aren’t enough, is that it? Because I’m not artistic, or because we’re more similar than we are different? You’re seriously not attracted to me? Uh, I don’t like this at all. Why do I feel so shitty whenever they meet…”

The student was glaring and kicking at some blades of grass to cure some of his terrible mood and keep him from calling Seongwoo and ordering him to stop meeting that untrustworthy guy. Then, he heard some strange sound. Because he was in the empty park possibly the sound that he’d heard before very faintly was unmistakably clear.

“It’s like…a page being flipped…?”

Before he could think over where that sound came from or what it meant, he found himself after his next blink abruptly in the classroom. He was in the middle of drinking Seongwoo’s favorite strawberry milk through a straw. Next to him, a cardigan-wearing Seongwoo was sipping the same drink as he read the textbook for their upcoming history lecture, looking so adorable sucking the straw through pursed, duck-like lips that the girls behind him were secretly sneaking photos and giggling against their curled fingers. Minhyun glanced over his perfectly groomed head of chestnut waves, his brows furrowing.

The clock read that it was 10 am. Just a moment ago when they were at the park though, the sun had been low, just about to start setting, obviously a much later time. So, he’d blinked and then it was the next day? Without him able to remember anything that happened that night or the next morning up until he was in class? How was that possible? Or was he having a moment of insanity? It was a dream-like occurrence, but it felt too detailed and realistic to be a dream.

“Peculiar…”

“Hmm?” Seongwoo lifted his head, looking at his friend with an inquisitive expression.

Minhyun answered his unspoken question while flicking his wide, attractive, partially bared forehead gently, “I mean, it’s peculiar that you’re reading instead of drawing on break. I thought you read the textbook homework at night so you could slack off during the day. What happened?”

Seongwoo giggled, his sculptured face tinting a light pink like the milk he was consuming. “Hehe. I was too busy hanging out with hyung last night. It slipped my mind.”

“Ah, that hyung again. You were hanging out all night that you don’t even do your homework. What was it that you guys were doing, eh? Are you using protection at least?” Minhyun teased with a wicked, easy-going grin while inside he was seething with a painful burn at that knowledge, wondering just what their relationship was and how far they’d progressed. It pissed him off that another person besides him would dare touch Seongwoo’s pretty, silky skin.

When he had an image of himself jumping forward, biting and sucking at Seongwoo’s long, fair neck so that a mark would be there for all especially that pesky hyung to know that he already was taken, Minhyun had an epiphany.

_Oh. That’s it. I actually like Seongwoo, don’t I? Like romantically. Not just as a friend anymore. I like him as a man. I want him to be my fiancé for real. I want to progress our relationship and get physical. That’s why I don’t like him with this other guy. I’m jealous and territorial. I’m anxious that they’re doing things together, experimenting in mature ways. Well…shit. I’m gay. And I have romantic feelings for my best friend._

_Just look at him in that frilly apron! How freaking cute! The epitome of a precious treasure needing a whole army to protect him. I feel like my wife is home cooking me dinner and that makes me keep fantasizing about giving him a backhug. No, no, must resist, he’d probably drop kick me in the balls just for trying. He doesn’t like to be suddenly touched, remember? Plus, he’s just a minor! Oh, and one more thing, he’s also sort of belonging to Minhyun. Ugh, why is this tempting, extremely pretty baby off limits in so many different ways?_

Daniel sighed wistfully, lips forming a rounded pout, leaning against the door jam he was peaking around into the kitchen from. He’d come out of the office to get a cup of water, then he’d discovered Seongwoo was in the middle of cooking fried rice. He decided not to disturb the hard-working chef and got caught up the last ten minutes secretly observing him with the goofiest grin on his face.

Daniel never thought with his previous assistants or girlfriends how great a domestic moment like the many they’d shared recently could be. His past girlfriends hadn’t liked staying at his place unless they were forced to. They couldn’t cook nor did they attempt to try because they said it was boring and it wouldn’t taste good anyway. Something like cleaning or decorating his place? They’d never picked up their manicured hands to attempt, probably never even considered it. Since he was a hopeless long-term bachelor stuck in his bad habits and they were only dating him temporarily anyway, so there wasn’t any point in bothering with the difficult task.

They might have nagged him occasionally, but Seongwoo was the first person waltzing into his life that forced him to do anything that he didn’t want to do. Such as waking up at a set time, showering and combing his hair every day, putting on a nice shirt and pants instead of going around in only boxers and a hoodie, taking a walk and stretching regularly every day for proper blood circulation, putting his clothes in the hamper instead of the floor, doing chores like laundry, dishes, trash disposal, recycling and dusting a couple of times a week instead of letting them pile up to an overwhelming mountain he couldn’t ignore.

All things that as an adult he knew he should be doing but he’d been too lazy and forgetful to be so responsible. Truthfully, much of that Seognwoo did on his own voluntarily without complaint but Daniel felt guilty seeing that the student was doing all that on top of his school work in the comic and his drawing backgrounds outside of the comic, always busy and on the move with a bottomless vat of energy like a bee during spring time. All with that slight, whispy frame of his that seemed like he might be carried away by a storm. He’d voluntarily jump to help without a moment of hesitation, surprising even himself.

Daniel rather liked doing chores he found, as long as they were doing it together. Since they got to chat and joke around, feeling like lovers inside of a scene in a romance movie. Scenes that he’d read and drawn were coming into fruition in his own life and it made him like this—all giddy, fluttering, unable to stop smiling, sighing with contentment every couple of minutes, staring at the other wistfully while having all sorts of strange fantasies. Call him crazy, but even outside of the comic world, Seongwoo seemed so beautiful, charming and sparkly. He just had this enchanting glow about him. So much of his personality was lovable, even the sharper, nastier edges like when he was snappy or bratty.

_Life is just perfect. Can’t we stay like this forever? Maybe I’ll just never finish that comic. In case he won’t be able to get out of there once I slap ‘the end’ on it. He seems genuinely happy, carefree, and seeing him happy makes me even happier. I’m probably the happiest I’ve ever been at the moment. We’re not even in that sort of intimate, physical relationship, I didn’t even confess my feelings but it’s more fulfilling and fun than any of my past relationships. It’s just nice having him around and making up for all the miseries of his past that were my fault._

“Do you know that you’re seriously perfect boyfriend/husband material?”

Seongwoo jumped, shrieking and waving the spatula wildly since he was caught off guard. It reminded Daniel of a circus seal. The comical, exaggerated reaction made him snicker.

“Hey! You scared the life out of me, hyung! Don’t sneak around like that! What if I had spilled? What if I got burned? How can I go to the hospital when I don’t have a proper ID, huh?!”

“Sorry, sorry. Claws down and stop hissing please, kitty. Before you hurt someone or something.”

Daniel rubbed his tensed shoulders, narrowly avoiding the spatula the shaken up, irritated younger was jabbing at his nose.

Seongwoo huffed, returning to the reddish-brown rice he was stirring to a golden crisp which smelled truly heavenly. He relaxed slightly, mostly ignoring Daniel even though he was hanging and clinging to him which he did here and there as if he forget about Seongwoo’s boundary issues.

Though, to be honest, Seongwoo’s boundary issues didn’t apply to Daniel. He just pretended that he wasn’t alright with being approached and touched a lot besides having his hair tussled, forehead flicked, neck lightly choked. That was because of the number that it did on his senses having his crush touching him more than that, coming close enough to smell and sense his warmth. Daniel smelled ten times better than any of his favorite smells like flowers or coffee or fruits.

Just a brush of their warm, smooth bare skin, a press from those firm muscles, or a whiff of his intoxicating scent could get Seongwoo swimming in magma, uncomfortably aroused, heart racing like a motor, electric shocks zapping through his system, setting his nerves wacky. He bit his lip, pressing the front of his suddenly tight pants to the edge of the marble and oak counter, swallowing back a moan, attempting to focus hard on the dish and ignore what Daniel was unknowingly doing to his poor hormonally unstable body.

_Can you at least not speak all deep and husky and breathe on my neck like that? And for god’s sake, please don’t press that rocky chest against my back! I’m going to lose it here from your unintentional rudeness, sir. I’ve been doing so well at hiding my attraction to you, but if you keep surprise attacking me like this, sir, it’s not going to be pretty when I freaking jump you like a desperate pervert. Back off, hyung, before you get raped. That’s certainly not how I’d like you to learn about my feelings._

“Hyung, um…Can you get me some salt?”

“It’s bland even after the ham and kimchi? Sure, though it’s not like you to let me have lots of salty foods in one day…”

Seongwoo sighed softly with relief when Daniel finally released him, taking his gorgeous, delicious, mind-warping body across the kitchen. Once he was safe, he could actually breathe and clear up his muddy brain somewhat. Now he only smelled the kimchi and only felt the cool air or warm heat from the stove on his sensitive skin which he was more used to and comfortable with.

_Well, I don’t wish that, but I have no other choice. It was all I could think of to put some space between us before I lost my damn mind. Stupid, oblivious cute yet dangerously sexy puppy. The things you do to me seriously. When will you ever realize? That I find you insanely hot. I’m not even all that good at hiding it. You’re just that adorably dense. I mean, would anyone come around and do all this for a person they didn’t like? It’s a wonder you were able to get a girl and lose your virginity with that amount of rocks in your head!_

As usual, while they were eating Daniel was full of exaggerated praise, acting as if he’d made some new fusion dish that would change the world. It was just an average-tasting, simple to cook, traditional dish that was on the side of tasty though, in his opinion. Seongwoo was flattered but still poked him with his chopsticks while pretending to be annoyed, snapping at the artist to knock it off and just eat already before he tossed it in the trash or fed it to the cats instead who knew how to eat quietly with their mouths shut not spewing pieces of food everywhere like a slob.

The assistant’s slight, shy smile, the tips of his ears and ridges of his cheeks being colored though showed he was pleased by the compliments and how Daniel appreciated his efforts. It made slaving in the kitchen during the sweltering, humid summer days, going around in a frilly pink apron that was clearly meant for a woman that had just been laying around worth it. As with any other chore or small gesture he did to take care of his unbelievably lazy, helpless, childish hyung.

“Seriously, it’s a masterpiece. I feel like there’s a party going on in my mouth. My taste buds are drunk, dancing the tango, and shouting with glee. Hmm, so freaking good! Chef, you’re the best! We should change your name here to Choi!”

(Because choi-go means the best, terrible pun there, author’s rolling her eyes along with Ong)

Seongwoo paused in scooping more rice into a pile in the center of his plate to narrow his eyes at him in exasperation and pinched the long thumb he was holding up. He gave him a look that said clearly ‘okay, I get it, that’s enough already, freaking eat it or else’. Daniel performed that adorable nose scrunchy, huge dimpled smile, sheepish dorky laughing thing he often did. Seongwoo dug his fingers into the pocket of the apron and curled his toes, secretly squealing inside that his crush looked so freaking cute then he wanted to jump over and rain kisses all over his marshmallow cheeks. He quickly looked down at his plate, clearing his throat, busying himself scraping up the plate. He was just barely able to put on a calm, collected façade, making sure that his lips didn’t curve.

“It’s not so bad. You’re going overboard, as usual.”

“I would totally go overboard for this—”

“Oh, my god, just fucking shut up and eat already!” Seongwoo snapped, jamming a spoonful of his own rice into Daniel’s moving trap.

“Hey, you cursed again, dirty mouth! Go wash with soap!” Daniel accused, spewing grains of rice like a sprinkler.

“How about you chew all your food before you talk. Ew, so dirty! Were you raised in the mountains by Samoyeds, not just looking like one?” Seongwoo scolded, swiping away some rice grains stuck on his pointy chin as he miserably failed to speak with a mouthful of food.

Daniel smiled and flushed, obediently chewing and swallowing what was left to consume while happily swaying because he was truly in love with the taste of Seongwoo’s award-winning kimchi fried rice. He finally listened, not saying anything until he’d fully consumed the bite. Meanwhile, Seongwoo observed the elder with a faint, soft smile of affection and amusement. Once he was sure he was listening, the younger told himself he was staring too long and being much too obvious. Hence, he returned to eating, not commenting about Daniel’s tenth lecture over that he was much too young and cultured to be allowed to curse. Seongwoo pretended to be annoyed at many things that Daniel did such as the ‘responsible adult/friendly senior’ lecturing and the terrible food habits he had but in his mind he was always laughing or cooing.

 _Dang, he’s really too cute to handle. How can a grown man with such a massive, fit body be this freaking lovely? I want to kiss and hug him like crazy. But I only dare try when he’s deep asleep and unaware_ …

“Hyung! Do you need help?”

“Nope, I’ve got it. No problems here!”

“It doesn’t really sound like you got it though. Will there be any coffee left to drink if you stir so vigorously?”

“Eh, I told you not to sweat the small stuff. The cup isn’t going to melt if it has a couple drips of coffee on the side.”

Daniel was in the middle of getting another cup of coffee. It was late, the night before the next deadline. He had some issues with figuring out a scene that was crucial, so they were probably going to end up working all night. Seongwoo needed to go back to take an exam so he couldn’t afford to sleep since he had to cram. Hence, he’d brought his notes to study while waiting for Daniel to hand him the new scenes he would add the backgrounds as directed.

Usually, Seongwoo was the one in charge of making the coffee but Daniel had insisted out of feeling immensely guilty at his blockage happening at the most inopportune time for the student. He was on the way with the tray of steaming cups which had unfortunately spilled quite a lot of the liquid inside because he was stirring too hard in order to mix in the sugar since Seongwoo only drank things as sweet as could be. The artist hadn’t expected that Seongwoo would appear to open the door, having been on his way out to see if he needed help since he was taking so long and making an alarming racket.

Daniel noticed the assistant coming out too late to pause his rapid steps. The tray crashed between their chests, resulting in one of the cups launching like a rocket straight in the center of Seongwoo’s chest. They both gasped, gawking at the mess. Then, Daniel recalled that it was quite hot and worried about Seongwoo’s skin being scarred for life. He set down the tray and yanked at the collar of the younger’s shirt, resulting in all of the buttons breaking off and flinging like bullets onto the floor. He accidentally ripped open the shirt all the way, revealing every inch of Seongwoo’s bare chest.

Luckily, it was only slightly wet, not red or blistering. Daniel could only be relieved for a moment though. As they realized what just happened and it was the first time that Daniel had ever seen anything more than Seongwoo’s hands and feet, the boy who was incredibly body conscious became flushed and bashful. The student covered his smooth, flat chest as Daniel averted his eyes, turning away.

“S-sorry. I was just worried you could be burned. I wasn’t thinking. That was…dreadfully inappropriate…”

Seongwoo was silent for so long that Daniel anxiously glanced his way. He had his arms crossed around his chest, chewing on his lip, his face strawberry from neck to ear tips, onyx orbs stuck on the floor. It appeared as if he might be shaking, which made Daniel feel all the worse because he must have scared him and made him feel like he was about to be molested.

“Seongwoo…I’m really sorry to have startled you like that. I wasn’t having any perverted thoughts, I swear. I just was scared you were hurt from the hot coffee. I was just trying to save your skin from being scalded, not thinking of stripping you. Really. Are you alright? Talk to me please. Did I mentally scar you for life?”

“Er…It’s fine. I understand you’re reasoning. You did the right thing. It’s just…um…You sort of destroyed it and I have nothing else to wear…I’m kind of feeling cold and embarrassed at the moment. So, could you maybe…borrow me a shirt?” the other stuttered in a low, very soft voice that Daniel hardly recognized.

“Sure. I’ll get you one. Go wash the coffee off first and I’ll bring it to you.”

Ten minutes later, Seongwoo was wearing one of Daniel’s t-shirts. It was so large though that he was swimming in it and a large portion of his lovely, creamy collar with the prominent bones were sticking out, tempting Daniel to stare there. It was rare to see Seongwoo with more than extremely minor skin exposure. He resisted by some miracle, carefully handing Seongwoo the cup of coffee. The younger stopped playing with the edge of the t-shirt, damp tips of his chestnut hair swinging in his still slightly tinted face as he gingerly took it.

Seongwoo continued bashfully avoiding Daniel’s eyes even when they got back to work. Daniel continued to apologize until Seongwoo lightly threatened to throw his mug at him. After that bickering moment, things relatively went back to normal, though the atmosphere between them was rather awkward and silent compared to usual.

Daniel drew at his desk while Seongwoo studied his books/notes and sipped the coffee from their matching mugs at his own. He’d pause between each page that he sort of skimmed because he couldn’t fully focus after what happened. During that pause, he’d glance at Daniel, secretly observing him at work with that super handsome profile and large physical. He’d smell the edge of the t-shirt collar and admire things that he loved about Daniel’s body such as his plump lips, bulging yet shapely biceps, incredibly broad, strong shoulders, firm chest, ridiculously long legs that never seemed to quit.

He couldn’t help but have a couple of naughty fantasies invade his mind. Daniel had just suddenly torn open his shirt and seen his entire chest and he’d even caught him staring at it with awe as well. Then, his thirsty, shaken up self was inside of Daniel’s clothes. They were warm and they smelled just like him, quite strongly. It made him feel like he belonged to Daniel, like how lovers tended to wear the clothes of the one they were sleeping with after a romantic night together.

Seongwoo grinned widely, pressing the edge of the yummy, comforting smelling shirt over his chin while subtly gazing across the room at the elder who was busily twitching the stylus.

_I might not be his boyfriend yet, but this is still perfect. I feel just like one. I’m really having a good time here. I’m so happy just being able to stay by his side, helping him and seeing him every day. Even if I have to keep it a secret, maybe it’s fine. As long as we can stay like this forever…A real hug would be extremely nice but an imaginary one is great too…_

“Ah, forget it! Seongwoo, let’s have a snack break. I’m stuck again.”

The distraught artist abruptly erased what he had been doing and slammed down the pen, startling Seongwoo who quickly dropped the shirt and went back to his book, pretending to be reading the bottom of one page.

Seongwoo kept his voice calm, as if he wasn’t half terrified near out of his wits that Daniel had caught him staring at him with a total lovesick expression. Not to mention, cuddling, sniffing, or chewing the shirt. That had been much too close for comfort. He needed to be more careful than that, in case Daniel didn’t return his affections like that and things became awkward or distant between them.

“Hmm? Alright, let’s go clear your head and discuss. I’ll try to help if I can.”

They moved to the living room, eating some unhealthy snacks that Daniel adored and Seongwoo allowed him to eat on occasions such as this when he needed an energy or creative boost. As they munched, Daniel showed and explained the scene that he couldn’t figure out how to draw. The scene he was struggling with was a more mature romance scene. The main couple were now dating and they’d even had a couple of kisses. What was natural would be for them to take it to the next level. Daniel had the idea that the girl would fall on top of the guy in bed in a promiscuous position that would basically make the guy lose his mind and jump all over her from that point. He wasn’t planning on showing any scenes of them doing something while naked, but he at least wanted something steamy and suggestive.

The only thing was that he couldn’t figure out how he wanted to draw the girl from the behind view-point for the male viewers to appreciate. He could only figure out their positions from the side. All of the photos that he’d seen weren’t as appealing or too lewd as what he wanted it to appear like. It needed to be subtly sensual but still tasteful and pretty. Otherwise he would make female viewers angry and likely get smacked in the head with a purse by his editor.

“Hmm. Maybe you need a live model then? Someone slender and tall like her. Then you can have them try various poses and you could take a photo or draw while they stayed that way at the angle you prefer. That’s pretty commonly done.”

“Ah, live model. But the deadline is tomorrow morning. I don’t have time to…” Daniel drifted off, his eyes scanning Seongwoo slowly from head to toe several times as he thoughtfully scratched his jaw.

“Wait. Why are you looking at me like that? Hyung, you’re not possibly thinking…” The younger asked with apprehension in his tone, his pretty, twinkling galaxy eyes narrowed.  
“Seongwoo…That’s it. You’re also tall and slender and curvy a bit like her. You could be my live model. You don’t look much different than a girl at all.”

“Neh? Um…Well, I could if you really need it but. I’m not a girl though and it’s…I’ve never posed before. I would be awkward and no good at it.”

Seognwoo was a hesitant, flustered mess. Even though he’d predicted this idea was coming his way a couple of moments previously. Daniel was looking at him as if he were his savior, clinging to his hands and flashing him those irresistible, sweet, huge puppy eyes. He bit his lip, trying not to look but Daniel kept dodging into his sight as he begged him.

“Please, please, please. Please at least try to be my model. You’re close to perfect to play her and we’re out of time to look for someone else. I promise I’ll buy a gift for you before you come back next time as an extra reward, okay? Please, I will only ask you this one thing, just this one time. I really need it. It’s an emergency. I need you, Seongwoo-yah. I need your slender, long body. Please help me. Just this one time.”

Seognwoo sighed, admitting defeat in all ways. “Okay, okay. Stop begging. It’s annoying and so unmanly.”

Then he lifted his head, slightly pouting. “Only this one time and I’m not wearing the skirt.”

“Sure, sure! You don’t need to wear it. Thank you so much, Seongwoo-yah! You’re the best. Hmm, thank you, I love you! You’re a lifesaver!”

Seongwoo knew that he was an affectionate guy and said things like that flippantly. They didn’t have the meaning behind them like as if he were to say it. Still, he couldn’t control his heart from bursting and spilling rainbow confetti of bliss all throughout his body when Daniel said those words and hugged him tight as if he meant it. His arms felt heavenly. It was different than when they’d embraced loosely in the subway. Better than any hug that he’d ever experienced in his life. So warm, solid, gentle, caring, cozy, sincere. And so many other pleasant things that his mind couldn’t fully process since the twisting gears inside were already turning on overdrive, steam nearly spilling out of his pinkened ears.

The student remained totally still, afraid that if he twitched a finger or even blinked minutely, this wonderful fantasy would be over or he’d awaken from the dream to find he was merely snuggling between the blankets and Daniel’s side. It was their first ever full, conscious hug. Before he could put his arms around Daniel once he registered that it was real though, Daniel had already jumped up, grabbing his wrists to pull him up, seeming excited.

“Let’s get you into position. No time to waste. I think there’s more space on the floor here than the bed but it’s not that comfortable so I’ll put some blankets or pillows down for your knees not to hurt.”

_And somehow…that’s how I ended up like this. The most humiliating and erotic thing I’ve ever done in my existence. I can’t believe I agreed to this crazy idea. What was I thinking? Why am I so whipped for those freaking puppy eyes?_

Seongwoo resisted the urge to groan and slap himself. He was bent over on his knees in some odd, suggestive position as if he’d been crawling, his legs splayed and his butt raised unusually high in the air and his back dipping in a pretty arch. Daniel was on the couch, staring intently from behind the desk he’d brought outside of the room. His intense, light brown, almond shaped, attractive eyes flickered back and forth between the tablet and Seongwoo, drawing the curves of his small, pert backside and wide-spread thighs at the moment. Seongwoo bit his lip, face flaming, watching Daniel over his shoulder.

When he couldn’t possibly handle this damage to his pride anymore, he asked with a faint plea, “Are you done yet?”

“Just a moment more. Is it hurting?”

“A little bit,” he admitted, though he knew they weren’t talking about the same aching parts.

“Sorry. Just hang in there a couple minutes more. You’re doing good.”

“Alright. Hurry, hyung.”

“I’m trying, I’m trying. That’s perfect though. Beautiful. I’ve finally got some inspiration. Don’t move an inch. Keep your head like that too, so I can see a bit of your profile. It’s nice. Really pretty yet sensual.”

_Sensual. In other words, he thinks I’m sexy right now? If that’s the case, as any other man when he sees something sexy, then they should have a biological change occur. Could he possibly be…_

Seongwoo sharply inhaled and gulped, licking his dry lips. He had glanced under the desk merely out of curiosity, getting his answer right away. He hadn’t realized until than that he could see Daniel’s splayed legs perfectly. There was a large, suspicious bump in the front of his sweats. Daniel was aroused while he was drawing him in this position, while he was…

_Oh, my god! I didn’t just imagine that, right? Are my eyes playing tricks on me? I swore that he just bit his lip while staring at my ass for a full five seconds and his fingers were not even moving! Does he have a boner right now because of me? Is he staring at my ass while fantasizing about something like that too? Shit, shit, shit. I’m so hard now. Don’t ask me to get up anytime soon because I absolutely won’t._

A couple of minutes later, Daniel said he was finished and then excused himself straight to the bathroom, hiding his erection with the tablet smoothly. Seongwoo rolled over on his back, collapsing on the blanket covered floor. He was out of breath and uncomfortably tingly and hot all over from feeling aroused. How could he not have been when their eyes locked a couple of times and they both were gulping, licking and biting at their lips, seeming so obviously in the mood there? With Daniel staring at his ass, getting harder right in front of his eyes?

The tension was so intense that he could barely survive, let alone believe it. Seongwoo smiled up at the ceiling, palming his stiff member and feeling his pounding heart with his other hand.

“So, even though I’m young and a guy, you can still feel attracted to me, hyung? You’re bisexual and don’t see me as just a kid anymore. That’s great to know. Maybe I don’t need to hide or act so innocent then. Today was a productive day…”

“So, what do you think?”

Seongwoo studied the pages of the scene Daniel had been stuck on and asked for a final review. It was five in the morning and he really needed to get back for his test which could be happening any moment, but of course Seongwoo would take that risk for his crush. There was no favor that he would refuse Daniel if he sincerely asked and needed it. Though it was hard to look at the images without blushing as he recalled the earlier steamy, eye-opening events.

“Hmm. Seems good enough to me. Why do you struggle with this kind of thing though? It’s sort of basic knowledge for anyone that’s dated or watched a lot of series. You DID have a serious girlfriend before, right?”

Daniel scratched his neck, looking embarrassed at his slight teasing. “I did. Of course. I have had several girlfriends. I’ve been on dates and been intimate before. It’s just that…Kind of embarrassing to admit, but we weren’t that serious. Like not madly in love like these two are. So, I can’t get the emotions right with meaningful, romantic, intimate scenes, I guess. They didn’t last all that long. Sometimes I didn’t even want to be around them. Those girls were always demanding more of me. Looking down on me because of my job or not wanting to plan marriage, plan for the kids or some long-term future goals. I was never good enough for them, so they dumped me before I could feel serious about them.”

Seongwoo felt bad to see Daniel looking discouraged, drooping his head. He reached out to ruffle his hair in comfort, just how Daniel often did to him. Then, he gently pinched his lightly stubbled chin and tipped his head up so their eyes connected. Daniel’s milk chocolate covered almonds were full of mixed emotions then, especially hope and vulnerability. Seongwoo smiled slightly, looking at him straight in the eyes. His heart was thundering so loud then, the artist feared that the other could literally hear it cracking his ribs. Seongwoo had never looked more appealing, masculine, and kissable in that moment.

“They were dumb to dump a great guy because of something trivial like that. If I were them and had a chance to date you, I would have done whatever I had to do to keep you around. You’re completely perfect boyfriend material, hyung. Just forget about those blind girls.”

Daniel didn’t say anything nor did Seongwoo leave off his sentence in a way that suggested he was expecting it. While staring at Seongwoo’s dark yet somehow translucent, glowing orbs that read he was serious about something, Daniel attempted to interpret the words bouncing about his brain in a scrambled fashion. His face tinted deeper shades of red as the second passed by of their intense, emotional staring contest.

_What does he mean by that? Why does he seem so serious like he’s trying to get something important across to me? Just what is it that you’re trying to tell me, Seongwoo-yah? You’re such a mystery the more I get to know you, somehow…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot going on I know. Hard to get your mind around and keep up with, especially one chapter is out a week, so you might forget stuff and get confused. It's probably complicated but I hope that you are able to follow what's happening in the two worlds. If you're confused, that's perfectly alright. It will help if you go back and read from the beginning until here. Though we don't know what's going to happen with Minhyun or the worlds in the end, anything in the future really about the characters or their complicated relationships. All you've got to go on are your guesses and mind reading skills. Anyone can figure out where I'm going with this? You might have some idea if you've read/watched the three stories that I'm borrowing and mixing ideas from.You can always say your ideas in the comments but I won't give spoilers because then reading this is so much less fun.
> 
> Within the next couple chapters we're getting to the rivalry and various angst related issues plus ongniel getting steamier. Hope you'll look forward to it and tune in next weekend for all the drama! Have a great day guys, if you're voting on various apps these days for ongniel, good luck and good job collecting! May you be lucky~ And just shout out to my lovely Danities, Dani T-rexes, you are such amazing fighters!! Really proud to be part of that fandom, they work so hard for their boy against all odds and injustices, they don't know the meaning of words like lazy, quit, give up, or slack off. You amaze me every day, I'm happy to fight along side of you. I hope Welo will also become this tight-night and passionate about voting in the future.
> 
> <3 Raina


	5. Something Like Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes the two need to escape the intense 'hotness' that permeates the quarters they share by going out. It's something like a date but they don't attempt to define it because then they might get awkward. As they get more comfortable with each other, maybe too comfortable, real personalities and hidden motives start showing. They also get bolder and more touchy. Two new people come into their mostly perfect lives and one troublesome best friend returns to wreak havoc.

“What are you doing?” Seongwoo shrieked, covering his face engulfed in flames. He couldn’t resist peeking through his fingers since the devil was tempting him.

Daniel finished popping his head out of the shirt he was removing, his bare, deliciously sinewy back directly in Seongwoo’s view.

The artist responded with an innocent, dumbfounded tone, “I’m getting ready to go take a shower, obviously. What else? You said I smell.”

“Yeah, but you should take off your clothes in the bathroom! Not in front of me!”

“Why? We’re both guys.”

“Because it’s just rude not to. Isn’t that common sense to not strip in front of someone?”

“Who says so?” Daniel questioned with faint amusement, still unsure of what Seongwoo was being fussy about now. “You’re so weird sometimes, kiddo.”

“I say so, that’s who. If I say it’s common sense, then it is because you never know about that! This just proves that age has nothing much to do with maturity. Put it back on or go out to change the rest. Right now!”

Daniel snorted, luscious plump lips curving crookedly as he glanced over his shoulder at the young boy who was shyly covering his entire face, which wasn’t difficult because it was tiny. His features were so small that just one of his hands could cover it. If Daniel put his hand there, he could practically engulf half of his head in his palm. Everyone they met was envious of that attribute of his.

“It’s funny that you think this is rude but all those times you’ve insulted me with that poisoned dart tongue of yours despite I’m your senior and giving you a place to stay and food isn’t. The irony.”

There were many things that Seongwoo found attractive about Daniel, but the thing that could make him drool the most was his broad shoulders. No-one created a body like that back in his world. Even Seonho couldn’t begin to compare. The real deal the character was unconsciously designed from was like a dang body-builder. So big, so muscular, so freaking solid and intimidating, which made him all the more fiercely attractive. Daniel had the most amazing proportions on top of being incredibly buff. He was 70% legs with the widest, bulkiest shoulder area, a tapered-in slender waist, these lovely, dipping dimples on his lower back. Even beautiful, nicely shaped hands and feet.

There wasn’t a part of his body that failed to make the assistant’s throat parched like the desert sands and his skin hot and tingly as naughty fantasies filled the teenager’s mind. There were so many intimate things that he only knew about and was eager to try out with someone someday. His insatiable curiosity extended to all things. Now without their usual channel about the mystery of his world, that energy sank deeper into the gutter every day being around an illegally, naturally sexy man.

Sometimes he’d bite his lips and rub his tingling thighs while openly admiring Daniel as he worked or did some chore in front of him. Those times when he bent over or had to lift something were his favorites because he got a great view of his stacked, gorgeous body flexing in motion. Although he had caught glimpses of flesh since they were living together, he’d been taken aback by turning around abruptly coming face to face with his favorite body part completely naked. That day Seongwoo learned that his biggest kink was definitely back muscles. He’d had to lift up his legs to hide the erection springing up in his slacks, just in time for Daniel to glance his way.

While the oblivious artist sauntered to the bathroom with that natural lazy swagger of his, tossing his shirt breezily yet with accuracy into the hamper on his way out of the bedroom, Seongwoo remained at the vanity, staring after him. His eyes raked lustily over the shifting ridges under glowing, slightly caramelized smooth, flawless skin with admiration, his tongue lapping at his lips and gulping nervously.

Once Daniel was finally out of sight, Seongwoo felt as if he could finally get air into his lungs properly. He collapsed back, resting his elbows on the vanity counter, panting like he’d run a marathon. He glanced down at the embarrassingly large pitched tent revealing how aroused he was from such a marvelous sight. He poked, then palmed the upper part, hissing and groaning, lifting up his hips and tensing his thighs as a rush of pleasure darted through his system.

The contact felt delicious, the relief much needed. Due to the fact that he was sleeping next to his crush, he wasn’t able to masturbate so often. Well, before he’d met Daniel, he honestly hadn’t felt much need to. He’d been busy with other things and not had much interest in looking up smutty webtoons he preferred to use, a bit more romantic and sensual than porn. After meeting Daniel, his head was more than halfway full of him on a daily basis with a tiny smidgen for being concerned about Minhyun and a larger portion for his future and studies combined. Within those thoughts, a large portion recently was taken over by a demon of sinful desires, torturing him with erotic, corrupt thoughts.

He was laying on top of the fully made-up bed, taking deep breaths and meditating in order to drive his dirty thoughts away hopefully before Daniel came back. The sounds of the running water were not helping since he imagined what was going on inside that small square room, his form of paradise. That stunning, sinewy back covered with suds. That shaggy, long, blond hair soaking wet and stringy, dangling in his eyes. Streams of clear, warm water spilling down his sculpted nose and plump lips, trailing down to his chest and stomach which was surely even more toned and sloped, leading to a trail of dark, curly hair and then beyond to...

Seongwoo was so into his naughty shower fantasy that he realized much too late the wet naked Adonis in his fuzzy, sparkly imagination was much too clear and detailed to be only in his imagination. Daniel was literally there in the room, one white towel wrapped around his slim, tapered waist, sinking low on his ridged, hallowed hip bones and barely covering his thick, juicy thighs. One of his arms was bent up as he ruffled a towel through long strings of damp, wavy, now light brown hair, the round bump of his bicep and thick veins of his arm flashing like soft porn.

For a moment, they continued doing what they were doing without much thinking, admiring the other with an honest, steamy, appreciative look. Daniel was smirking and intensely staring while Seongwoo was chewing on his lip. Almond eyes flickered down and a thick brow raised. He caught a glimpse of Seongwoo’s hand rolling over his front as if he were itchy, except there was a tell-tale lump inside of his black boxers. It was clear what the teenager had been up to.

“You okay there? Sounds like you’re sick. Or is it just one of those teenage boy problems, eh? So early in the morning even. I remember those days.”

The fact that the person in his imagination could speak and was watching him doing something dirty set off an alarm in the teenager’s mind. Seongwoo bolted upright and slammed a pillow over his unbuttoned lap where he’d been rubbing to relieve the ache, wiping some saliva from his lips. He couldn’t disguise the fact he was out of breath or blushing though. Not knowing what to do, Seongwoo dropped his head down in shame, remaining completely still as if the miserable situation he found himself in would pass by if he simply ignored it. Daniel came over the rest of the way, affectionately ruffling his hair and laughing in a husky, low tone.

“Hey, nothing to be embarrassed about, brat. At your age, an erection happens just from the brush of the wind. You know what, we can take the bus instead of the subway. I’ll let you have some extra time to take care of your personal business. You must be having a hard time since--”

Seongwoo snapped in a sharp pitch, tears stinging the corners of his onyx eyes, “Shut up, hyung. Don’t tease me like that. You should just act like you saw nothing. I hate it when you’re an insensitive jerk. Can’t you see I’m mortified and at a loss here? Ugh, I’m going to die just knowing you saw that…”

“Eh~ Like I said. There’s no reason to be embarrassed. Should I do the same? Then we’ll be even?”

Seongwoo shut the elder up with the iciest glare that chilled the air around them as if he had a freezing power. Daniel’s playful smirk fell along with the hand that was about to tug off the towel covering his genitals, turning into a look of apprehension and regret as Seongwoo reached for the bottom of his shirt.

“What are…” Daniel choked on his words and gulped hard.

Seongwoo slowly pulled off his shirt, revealing his own pale, shapely, smooth, untoned torso. He tossed the shirt back onto the pillows, then stood up, letting the pillow fall of its own accord onto the floor. He then sauntered towards Daniel with a wolfish look in his hooded eyes, swaying and biting his lip. His fingers slid down his flat sternum and shapely stomach, then played with the bands of his boxers, pulling suggestively at the center.

Daniel’s eyes stared at his hands after flickering to various spots of his chest as if he had no idea where to settle the enlarged, darkening irises on. He backed up until the door jam jabbed into his spine, blocking his escape attempt. Seongwoo stopped right in front of him, tilting his head with an evil look, eyes scanning the other’s strawberry face and continuously bobbing Adam’s apple as he struggled to breathe.

“Seongwoo, hold on…” Daniel choked with desire mixed with disbelief.

“You don’t like it either, right? What’s the matter, Daniel? We’re both boys. Why are you getting red and shy, huh? I thought you wanted to see more? Get even, you said? Look~”

“Even if you say that, I shouldn’t…It’s different, you’re a kid though. Don’t just go stripping everywhere or you’ll end up getting raped. Woah, for the love of God, stop already! You proved your point clearly. I’m sorry for my mean joke, okay? I won’t tease you anymore. I won’t even mention it. Let’s just forget it happened. Please, put your clothes back on and stop playing around.”

Daniel panicked, closing his eyes tight and pulling Seongwoo’s wrists far from where he’d been lowering the band of the boxers precariously far enough to show the line of the curly dark hair beneath.

Seongwoo chuckled wickedly, then blew a huff of air playfully on his face. It was a devil like he’d never expected to see in real life.

“Now you know what it feels like, hyung. Be careful, because once I’m bitten I swear I’m the type that bites you twice as hard right back.”

Daniel whimpered and shivered at the suggestive, low, husky whisper. Seongwoo stared lustfully at him for a moment later just an inch from making contact, tempted to lean in and bite at his damp neck. He stopped himself just in time from sinking his parted lips on dewy flesh when he saw Daniel quivering, straining, looking a mix of scared and excited. He clacked his teeth and then slid his wrists out of Daniel’s loosened, gentle grip.

Cool as a winter gust, he ordered, “Stop playing around, hyung, and get dressed. I’m going to take a shower next. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

When he slipped out of the bedroom, the assistant closed the door and then let out a shaky breath of air.

_Oh my god, did I just say that I was going to bite him? Did I just strip and almost show off my junk? What happened to me? I must have gotten possessed by the demon of lust! How could I do something so seductive? That was SO not like me! I guess everyone is learning things about my character still, even myself._

_I really shouldn’t come on that strong though. What if he caught on that I have feelings for him, not that I was merely getting revenge by teasing him in the same way? If he doesn’t feel the same way after guessing the truth, then it’s a risk. He might reject me and then I’ll lose him. I won’t be able to be his assistant or go out on special days that feel sort of like a date then._

_Thinking that he is a little attracted to me got me truly ahead of myself. Rather than having feelings, it’s probably that he just wants to experiment with guys some more. I don’t want to risk our close friendship just for one night. I want him as my boyfriend. If I can’t have him as that and have regular intimacy, then it’s best that we don’t even start anything with a kiss. Since I was touching myself and practically molested him there though, he might know I’m into him. Or that I’m actually a pervert asking to stay at his place with some hidden motive._

_Ugh. That was so foolish of me. Stupid freaking out of control hormones! I hate being a teenage boy! Hate it, hate it!_

Seongwoo scampered to the humid, steamed-over bathroom, slapping at his flaming cheeks. He was in a hurry to get far away and under a refreshing cold stream of water to calm his nerves. He couldn’t let that foolery happen ever again. He couldn’t risk ruining the good thing that he had going on with his hyung, for the first time in his eighteen years of existence feeling that life was meaningful and worth it. The next time Daniel said he was going to shower, he needed to go take an hour long walk or something so he wasn’t tempted.

_What in the hell was that about? That was NOT the look of an innocent teenager. I thought he was going to strip me down and eat me up from head to toe for lunch. Damn, that was so sensual and intense. I wouldn’t mind reliving it again though it might just kill me. I think my heart won’t work properly for at least a week more, jeez._

_What a natural seductress. Was he doing that intentionally though? Did he know what he was doing? Probably not. He doesn’t seem attracted to me. He was just teasing like how I did. Just because he got hard or was touching himself, it’s probably a coincidence. Sometimes teenage boys get hard without any prompting. It’s not like my body is anything amazing that it would make someone crazy after a glimpse._

_Don’t delude yourself and get your hopes up. It’s all just a one-sided thing. He has someone he likes, he confessed that to you already. He’s probably got something complicated with Minhyun too, though he’s stubborn to say the full truth. Think of the age difference and your positions too. Why would he like someone responsible for making his life miserable? I’m basically like his dad in a way. Older and I created his character._

_Okay, damn, now it feels even more wrong to have these sort of impure thoughts about him though. I don’t want to think of him like my son, gross. Anyway, let’s be sure not to be super obvious. Besides that accident, you’ve done a pretty good job thus far. If he notices you have a little thing for him, then you might lose your chance to spend time with him at all. Control your physical desires, bro, you must not play around like that even if he starts something first. It’s bad enough that he’s probably suspicious when you keep popping boners around him for the simplest reasons._

Daniel paused on his way to get some boxers. His eyes caught the reflection in the vanity mirror. He turned left and right, showing off his muscles as he flexed, attempting to judge his body from an unbiased perspective.

“Hmm. It’s not bad though, right? Pretty manly. I could use some more toning up though. Too much snacking and floury foods recently that I’ve started getting fluffy around the edges. It seems he might have liked my back which is the most toned part right now. Hmm, maybe just maybe, if I went back on my old diet and increased my usual lifting regimen…”

Despite repeatedly scolding himself that he shouldn’t be thinking of his teenage creation and assistant that way, his mind gravitated to dark areas like that. Chasing his desires, experiencing romance with a boy for once, increasing the levels of intimacy, developing a deeper, real companionship, attempting a serious relationship…

Each week Seongwoo was staying out of the comic world progressively longer than the previous week. Somehow it got Daniel thinking strange things. He started to depend on him, trust him, like having him around more and more. Their relationship was gradually transforming into something sweet, deep, and solid. Which he truly enjoyed. Except for the fact that he was struggling to keep his desire from surfacing when they spent time together, literally boners popping up between them, creating an awkward situation. He was at a loss how to control his urges but determined to make certain that Seongwoo stayed by his side even if he saw them and felt scared of it because he needed him. His life and he himself was better after Seongwoo butted in.

“Suzy is my editor. Suzy, meet my assistant, Seongwoo. Suzy, Seongwoo. Seongwoo, Suzy.”

“Eh? Seongwoo?”

The woman who was as pretty as an actress with the most lustrous wavy locks down to her waistline narrowed her eyes with her head tilted, staring at Seongwoo so intensely it was brazenly impolite.

“Yes, Seongwoo. It’s a common name.”

“I suppose. But he looks oddly like…”

Seongwoo shifted his eyes down, clearing his throat. Daniel cut in with a sheepish laugh, nervousness causing his scratching habit to appear.

“He looks like a celebrity, right? I couldn’t believe someone that looks that good could have such professional drawing skills. He’s only twenty! He’s helping me out while he’s taking leave from school. It’s sort of like an internship. He’s a drawing major.”

“Oh, really? Interesting. Only twenty? Isn’t it hard to work for someone so young?”

_Actually, I rounded up his age. You might lose your soul if you knew just how young he actually is. Well, putting someone his age to work technically is illegal, so I’ll look even more like a dang cradle robber so telling the truth is out of the question. Ah, shit, just smile through it, Daniel. Not like you really had a choice back then. He just barged into your home, making all kind of demands and you were just being nice not kicking him out on the streets._

“He’s fine. He’s really good. He’s an amazing, quick drawer. We have a great time together. Don’t we, Seongwoo-yah? Tell her that I’m not a slave driver.”

“He gives me food and the hours are flexible. I can even nap or go out for a walk if I feel like. It’s a good job and Daniel is a great boss. I’ve got nothing to complain about in particular. Besides that he’s kind of a pabo.” Up until the last part, Seongwoo said this as a robot, some of it having been word for word what Daniel had told him to say to her.

“Hey, I am NOT a pabo! Take that back!” The offended blonde retorted, reaching over to pinch his cheek. Seongwoo giggled, smirked, and stuck out his tongue brattily.

“Nah. Don’t wanna.”

Daniel scowled. “Why you little—”

Seongwoo dodged his fingers, retorting sassily, “Not that little. We’re just a centimeter apart, hyung.”

Their lovely bickering moment was interrupted by the woman clapping her hands and laughing jovially

“Aw~ You guys are already this sweet. It’s a match made in heaven. Good for you, Daniel. I’m happy for you to have someone like this as your assistant. I envy you, spending every day working with a young, energetic hunk. He’s really as cute as a button, fair and fine-featured like a prince, sassy but classy. Look at those cheeks, how precious! Oh, well, they don’t lose out to yours. Oh my goodness, you got chubbier, Niellie, they’re so fluffy now!”

The woman cooed, surprising them both and making them blush as she took turns pinching and playing with their plush cheek fat.

“Hey, hey, go easy there now. They might fall off if you pull that hard. Noona, stop, it’s embarrassing.”

“Eh, alright. I’ll stop for now. But you owe me five minutes before you leave today.”

“Arasso, arasso. Just order something already. We didn’t eat yet, so we’re starving.”

“Hmm, what should we get this time? Ah, I remember. Didn’t you like this one? You said the meat was super tender…”

Seongwoo became as timid and silent as a mouse after their introductions, merely remaining stagnant in the booth, observing the woman and Daniel talking, smiling, joking, touching casually. There was a close, intimate feeling between them, as if she was more his girlfriend than simply an editor. Seongwoo sank into a broody mood as he pondered.

Maybe she was an ex-girlfriend that he still had feelings for? Or an occasional fling? Or were they on the way to dating officially? He somehow sensed there was something special between them besides being coworkers, leaving him feeling out of place and uncomfortable as if he were a third wheel. He wanted to leave immediately. The longer that he heard them talking, saw her feed and touch Daniel so casually, the more irritated and nasty he became.

He tried simply to not look at them, focusing on his food or what was going on outside the windows of the restaurant. It wasn’t a success though. Once Daniel dragged him into the conversation and made him the center of attention. He couldn’t help but smile smugly like a kitten whenever he gave him extra pieces of meat, patted his back or brushed his hair absently whenever he was directing the topic to include him directly. He expected the girl to be jealous of how affectionate and caring Daniel was towards him. However, she had her chin resting on her folded hands, watching them with a knowing, wide grin like the Cheshire cat. She seemed amused and joyful to observe them, as if she were a fan of boy’s love and started shipping them hardcore. She certainly didn’t act like they were rivals for Daniel’s affection.

“That’s better. You look cute when you’re not being grumpy. No more sulking, kiddo. See, I gave you the most meat even though I’m a total meat hog. And I’ll order you ice cream for dessert. Sorry if you we’re feeling left out. We are close because we’ve been together a long time, so we tend to talk a lot about random things.”

“Eh, hyung. It’s not like that…I wasn’t…” Seongwoo flushed and looked down at his hands while fidgeting with a napkin, his tone soft and shy.

“I don’t know why, but you were definitely in a mood. And you were ignoring me, subtly seeking for attention. Short, snappy responses. Something was up earlier. I know you, remember. Better than anyone.”

After stating that, the artist flashed a flirty wink and tapped his knuckle on Seongwoo’s square chin. Seongwoo giggled, absently stroking where Daniel had touched after his fingers were gone. The artist continued to watch the student with a blatantly obvious, fond, smitten smile, his fingers absently brushing the silky hairs at his nape.

“And~ I think that’s my que to get out of here. Enjoy the rest of your date, boys. It was nice to meet you, Seongwoo-yah. I’m glad such a competent, charming, handsome person has joined our team. If Daniel gives you any issues, you send him straight to me and I’ll whip him into shape. That’s actually my specialty.”

Seongwoo bowed his head and bid her farewell, much more cheerful and polite than he had been acting most of their meal. He didn’t catch that she was gesturing and mouthing to Daniel that she approved of them together because they were super cute. Daniel merely shook his head, chuckled, and motioned with his chin for her to get going already.

She had already gone past the time that she’d cut in her schedule to meet him. Usually they discussed things through email messages but every once in awhile to maintain their teamwork and when they had something deeper or more detailed to discuss about his works, they would meet for a meal for an hour, sometimes get coffee for another hour if there was more to discuss. Suzy was extremely busy though since she had other artists to manage plus a ton of other hobbies, always studying or volunteering for something new every season. So, it was rare to even be able to chat with her for the full hour.

Seongwoo didn’t need to know, but she was also a freaking kinky woman, Daniel happened to be aware of—not directly. She wasn’t joking about that whipping bit. Another hobby he’d unfortunately been told about and could never erase from his memory. If he’d ever had an mild interest in dating her left, that was the thing that chased it away.

Once she was gone, Daniel happily put his full attention into babying Seongwoo in order to remove all the sulkiness and cleanse that dark aura he’d been surrounded by since they’d ordered food. He thought it was adorable that Seongwoo had been jealous of Suzy manipulating his attention and feeling upset that he was left out of the conversation. Somehow, that sort of spoiled, childish, temperamental behavior was adorable only with his assistant. Possibly because he was unbelievably good looking and when he got broody or pouty, that was exponentially increased.

They sat in the booth side by side, Daniel spoon feeding Seongwoo some ice cream with his arm still casually resting over the back of the seat, lightly brushing his shoulders.

“I got chocolate. It’s good for your creativity and boosts your happiness. You like it?”

“Hmm…” A very precious, baby-like Seongwoo hummed and nodded subtly, his wavy lips curving up despite he was holding back his feelings.

“Take a rest. My arm’s a good pillow. Your neck must be stiff from bending over the tablet or books all the time. You have to take care of your neck when you’re young. Otherwise, it will be stuck stooped like a crane when you’re older.”

Daniel lightly pressed the butt of his palm to Seongwoo’s forehead. Seongwoo obediently let his head fall back until it was laying on top of Daniel’s arm. He then turned these precious, twinkling doe eyes on him, parting his wavy seal lips for another bite.

“Ah.”

Daniel grinned and chuckled softly at the unspoken orders to be served. “You’re such a demanding, innocent baby right now. It’s super cute. You should be like this more often. It’s true that you catch flies better with honey than vinegar.”

“Funny you are scared to death of bugs yet compare yourself to a fly. So, you prefer when I’m being a sweet baby?”

“Hmm, I guess? But you’re also cool when you’re focused or snarky. You’re funny when you’re being clumsy and quirky. I think you’ve got a lot of sides to you and it’s hard to choose. I like them all. There’s no particular preference. I merely meant that when you’re acting younger than your age, vulnerable, soft, and clingy like this, that it’s really cute. It makes my heart flutter although I’m an old man and I want to take care of you more than normal. I guess it’s the greatest weapon in your arsenal. Act like this and the whole world we be at your feet. You’ll have willing servants you never have to pay. Probably never have to do something yourself a day in your life.”

“Ah, I see. Go back a bit there. I made your heart flutter? How? When? Do elaborate.”

Daniel coughed and shifted his gaze away while Seongwoo mischievously smirked, a dangerous sparkle in his black eyes that suggested trouble. He was not going to be a pure baby in need of affection for much longer, it would appear. He instantly regretted his slip of tongue. He’d said too much there, been too honest while his guard was down at this moment of fluffiness and good feels. Sometimes that happened when they were feeling comfortable and not doing anything work related, hanging out like they were close friends. He started thinking he could confess anything to the younger, when he really shouldn’t.

“Did I say that? I don’t recall. It’s not like it’s anything serious. It was just a skip because you’re pretty. Like a girl.”

When he turned back, he saw that Seongwoo was frown-pouting hugely and burst into shy, nervous laughter. His heart was fluttering big time seeing that sulky face up close, like a high speed train over bumpy tracks.

“Hing. Hyung~ I’m handsomely pretty, got that? Not just pretty.”

“Arasso, arasso. Aigoo, what a huge baby I’ve got here. It wasn’t an insult. Don’t sulk anymore. Especially NO hing, please. It’s lethally cute and makes your hyung feel like I’ve committed some grave crime. If you keep sulking, I’m going to put you in time out, young man. Here, eat up and be happy again~”

Seongwoo avoided the swerving, jutting spoon stubbornly, making little ‘hmm-hmm, hajima’s of disapproval. Eventually he took the spoonful of melting cold chocolate before Daniel ended up spilling it all over his chin. Daniel smiled sweetly as he assisted Seognwoo’s tongue in getting the smeared chocolate off his face from their childish battle.

In a couple more bites, they’d finished off the majority of the ice cream and were completely full. Daniel set down the spoon next to the emptied bowl, laying back in the booth with his legs spread out, completely relaxed. A comfortable silence fell over them as they absently watched the people passing outside of the window.

“Hyung…” Seongwoo broke the silence with a hesitant, soft tone.

“Hmm?” Daniel turned his head, seeing that from some point Seongwoo had been staring at him with those hypnotizing, massive, perfectly rounded pools of onyx that seemed so gentle and emotional compared to usual.

“If you’d made me as a girl character, who would be prettier? Me or her?”

Daniel’s thick caterpillar golden brows furrowed.

“Her who? Oh, you mean Suzy, my editor? Obviously, you. Girl or boy, even animal or piece of art, doesn’t matter. You’re prettier than anyone and anything in the universe. That’s how it was so easy for you to steal the show in my story, even before you were actually attempting to. You stand out like the moon amongst the stars. Of all the things I’ve drawn, you are the greatest masterpiece. The absolute prettiest.”

Seongwoo looked back out the window, unable to hide his gigantic, smuggest of all smug smirks. Daniel laughed lightly, poking at his cheek and craning his head so that he could get a good look at that adorable expression. He couldn’t help but tease him a bit, thinking that he might just be able to get away with it because it seemed something the last ten minutes or so that he’d done had lulled Seongwoo into a fantastic mood.

“You like your looks complimented that much? Or is it that you like winning over her? Admit it, kiddo. You were jealous there, weren’t you? You didn’t like being less interesting or having to share my attention, right? That’s why you were being moody and mute.”

Seongwoo clamped his lips shut, blatantly ignoring him and refusing to respond to the comments. Daniel laughed, poking a fingertip into the squishy center of his pale cheek.

“This prickly brat. So cute.”

“Are you sure you want to watch this?”

“Of course. What’s summer without a horror movie?”

“Alright, hyung, if you say so. It’s your funeral.”

Seongwoo shrugged, then sat back, giving up his attempts to get Daniel to see reason as the ads were finishing up on the massive screen. The only thing that scared Daniel more than a surprise sight of a bug were ghosts and monsters popping out from dark places.

As they did on occasion, they took a break from working in the middle of the week after doing a significant amount of the chapter. Today Daniel had insisted it was too hot to stay inside the small, stuffy apartment, so they should go cool off with a movie. He insisted that horror movies were popular because they made you sweat and shiver from the suspense which helped you cool off. The theater was also air conditioned which Seongwoo had to admit was nice since Daniel only used fans in his house to save electricity.

He’d been feeling stuffy since the weather in the real world was much more humid and intensely warm during the summers than how the one that he’d known had been designed. He came to understand why many people went around in shorts and t-shirts which was a rare sight to come across in his world. He still couldn’t stand to have that much of his skin exposed. He disliked the shape of his skinny giraffe legs and his arms were fragile like a girl’s. He would only unbutton one button of his collar and roll up the sleeves to his elbows.

Daniel, on the other hand, was always in short sleeves and pants, proudly showing off his perfect muscular shapely body which was simply unfair. Seongwoo had to catch himself and physically force his head in another direction when he realized that he was gawking at the protruding veins and sinewy, tasty seeming muscles buried under light, caramelly toned skin. It was annoying how even that man’s knees and ankles were so masculine and attractive that a swimming pool worth of drool formed in his mouth.

The younger bit his lip, distracted from when Daniel propped his exposed, hairless knees on the chair in front that he barely heard what Daniel was whining about.

“Hey, now. I only told you that I didn’t like ghosts. I’m not scared of them. I just don’t like them. I’m not scared seriously. It’s different. They’re just…bleh. Creepy. I feel bad when I see them.”

Seongwoo snorted as the blonde shivered, making the connected row of seats tremble. “Do you need to repeat yourself ten times? Doesn’t seem all that convincing. Just admit it. You’re --”

“I’m not scared,” the other repeated for the third time, more insistent and firm.

It only appeared to Seongwoo as if he were doing some sort of mind control activity, attempting to convincing himself so that something embarrassing wouldn’t happen soon. He sensed that the big guy was already becoming a scaredy cat. The student reached for the trembling hand resting on the arm rest, laying his hand over the other’s wrist and lightly squeezing. His crush didn’t need to say it; he would give him comfort as soon as he sensed it was needed. Although he was a big frightened by horror movies as well.

“I’m here for you, hyung. If it’s too much just hold my hand. We’ll get through it together.”

“Tch. I’m not a coward. I don’t need to hold anyone’s hand just to watch an hour and a half long movie. Stop teasing me while pretending to care, you evil brat. I see right through your act.”

Seongwoo found his stubborn moodiness extremely amusing and adorable. He played around by going to remove his hand and acting indifferent.

He commented arrogantly, “Suit yourself.”

Daniel’s hand flipped positions and darted for his as it moved away. He captured it, slipping his fingers smoothly into the cracks until they were firmly linked a second later. Then, he pulled Seongwoo’s arm back to where it had been previously, keeping his hold on his hand.

“Just in case. Let’s stay like this.’

“Because you’re scared?”

“No, because I’m…cold and lonely. That’s all.”

Daniel kept his eyes trained on the screen, attempting to act casually cool. Seongwoo continued to watch, admiring his well-defined, masculine profile and smirking with haughty amusement. He didn’t believe him for a moment but since the contact was extremely pleasant and soft, he wasn’t going to complain and lose this brilliant opportunity. It was great to be intimate with his crush. It now felt like a real date, which he adored.

Daniel thought that he was going to be alright while watching that short movie, honestly. Yes, he did have a fear of ghosts that he hated to admit to because it didn’t match with his age, size, or looks everyone said. It was bad enough that Seongwoo knew that he was afraid of bugs, that he talked to and dressed up his cats as if they were his babies, that he talked in his sleep and snored like a bear, and many other embarrassing, unattractive things. He didn’t want him to know that he was afraid of ghosts or a bit of the dark as well.

However, he’d looked up this movie and it seemed like he’d be able to handle it since it was more about the psychological aspect than something like shock factor-inducing monsters popping out of nowhere to give viewers heart attacks. Within the first ten minutes, he regretted his decision. He had underestimated his ability to remain collected while watching this sort of suspenseful dark sort of movie. Even the music and the introduction freaked him out to the point he was tensed, quivering, and pressing his tongue into the bottom of his throat, holding back a nervous shriek.

It had been over a year since he’d last attempted to watch a horror film since he somewhat hated the feeling that he got watching them so much, especially the next several days of nightmare attacks. It was a good adrenaline rush for many, but in his case, it was like a shot of powerful drugs straight into his veins. It had always seemed to affect him more intensely, possibly because he was a creative person which meant that he had an overactive imagination.

While attempting to watch the movie, he had difficulties staying still and silent because he kept imagining something would jump out to cause chaos or harm to the characters every ten or twenty seconds. He couldn’t focus on the plot or the acting because he was set on edge by the background noises and the music, his eyes shifting around the room for a glimpse of something foreboding so he could predict and brace himself before it happened. Because he didn’t want Seongwoo to hear him screaming bloody murder like a little girl.

So intensely focused on the movie and keeping himself intact he was that Daniel didn’t notice. Seongwoo wasn’t feeling scared at all because he wasn’t watching more than a few moments of the scenes occurring. Instead, he had his head turned against the seat, blatantly watching Daniel’s reactions with amusement, focusing on the intensity of his grip and clenching of his jaw and how much his arm and neck veins protruded.

By watching those things, the intelligent, observant boy could tell when Daniel was feeling more anxious and on edge. When that occurred, he used his thumb to brush his skin and his fingers squeezed lightly, bringing comfort that seemed to relax the elder. Then, for a moment the tension in the blonde’s body would ease up and his plump lips curved into a bashful, pleased grin that was incredibly cute and boyish.

The emotional roller coaster Daniel was going through because of the movie and himself he found incredibly entertaining that the movie had no hope of capturing his interest. He couldn’t help but laugh when Daniel eventually lost the battle with himself. He truly was terrified of ghosts and needed someone to comfort him in order to get through a horror movie, even if there wasn’t all that much shock factor.

As soon as the ghosts started appearing to hurt people, Daniel turned his massive, trembling body, diving into the corner of the seat, clenching Seongwoo’s hand so tight it went almost completely numb. He pressed his nose into Seongwoo’s shoulder and closed his eyes, whimpering, while his other arm flailed as if he wanted to hold something but was slightly hesitant to.

Seongwoo saw a perfect opportunity and jumped on it like a obese kid on the verge of diabetes to chocolate cake. He gently led Daniel’s other trembling hand to his waist, a second later nearly moaning from the pleasure of being clung to. His large, strong hand could wrap around his waist and crush him if he tried but he was conscious enough not to use the full power of his Iron Man muscles on him. Daniel snuggled up to Seongwoo, pulling him so close that the arm of the chair between them dug into their chest and side. His nose slid up until it was pressing at the base of his neck, partially touching the skin above his shirt collar. His arm wrapped around his waist, the crook capturing the slimmest part, his hand pressing into his lower back.

“Seongwoo…hold me please…” he whimpered, his voice high pitched and broken, much like a scared child.

Seongwoo stopped biting his lip and slapped himself internally. It wasn’t the time to lust after Daniel and enjoy the physical contact. He was in need of comfort, asking to be babied. Although he had no simple fears such as bugs or ghost or deep water like Daniel did, Seongwoo knew well what it was like to be honestly scared. It wasn’t something that you could control with rationality. It was a complicated emotion that once it consumed you in its grip was hard to get out of without some help from another. He wouldn’t dare joke or tease someone who was genuinely experiencing fear.

“It’s alright, hyung. I’ve got you. Don’t look if it’s too much. I’ll let you know when it’s safe. It’s alright, alright.”

He softly whispered to the giant baby clinging to him for dear life attempting not to scream and disturb the other movie goers nearly crushing his lithe body in desperation. His hand soothingly rubbed the toned, trembling back, noting absently down where the firmest ridges of his muscles were purely for scientific purposes.

Although it wasn’t the way he imagined it, he did finally get the chance to feel Daniel’s hug again and that wonderful body builder body of his against his own and under his fingertips. It was sort of wrong, he knew, to be taking advantage of the situation and feeling gleeful about it, but could anyone really say they wouldn’t do the same if they were a young healthy virgin though? It was pretty much impossible not to think of it. The person he liked was THIS ridiculously attractive and stacked, after all. Plus, their second ever hug had happened so suddenly. He couldn’t really blame or chastise himself for popping a boner when he wasn’t prepared for this attack on his senses.

They ended up having to leave the theater early because Daniel felt like he couldn’t contain his desire to shriek for much longer as the movie reached its horrifying climax. Seongwoo agreed he would also feel embarrassed if Daniel did that in front of all those people, though he would secretly be amused by it and sort of wanted to see it. He told Daniel that they could challenge watching the rest of the movie later at home after they downloaded it.

Daniel made him swear before he allowed him into the apartment that he wouldn’t speak of this humiliating moment, especially to tease him for lying about being scared earlier, ever again. Other things were okay, but this particular traumatizing experience was off-limits. Seongwoo was merely happy that Daniel hadn’t caught on to him getting aroused or moaning softly a couple of times when his fingers and nose brushed sensitive places. It was better he didn’t recall it, especially at night when they shared the same bed. Who knew what he might do to Daniel while he was half-asleep if he became aroused and craved his touch while remembering that heavenly moment, just how amazing they fit together.

Another night, Seongwoo didn’t feel like cooking and instead wanted to go outside to eat for once, so he dragged the homebody artist outside to hunt for restaurants along the streets nearby the apartment. Daniel admitted that this one chicken restaurant was good. Sometimes he went there with his friends and Suzy loved it, especially with the cheap, tasty beer they had.

Seongwoo suggested that he choose their menu since he knew what was good. Daniel ordered two different kinds of chicken platters and a large mug of beer for himself. Seongwoo glanced at the beer Daniel was chugging down with envy, licking at his lips unconsciously. He had tried beer only once in his life at a charity benefit Minhyun’s parents put on. Minhyun had snuck it and let him have a taste while hidden away from the adults. Although he didn’t usually like any sort of bitter drinks, since it was smooth and had a sort of sweet aftertaste, he didn’t mind it somehow. It was strangely delicious that he kept asking for more sips to the point that Minhyun whined about him hogging it all.

“Would you like one?”

“Neh?” Seongwoo turned with a lost kitten kind of look.

This tall, pretty, fair-skinned foreigner who was the young owner of the restaurant came over instead of their previous water, wearing the most stunning smile. More than himself Seongwoo thought he looked like someone who stepped out of a comic book. Daniel glanced between them with amusement as they had this weird moment. Somehow the room was glaringly bright with the two gorgeous guys standing nearby.

Seongwoo was blinking rapidly, silently staring at him while the owner was looking between him and the wall as if he recognized him and admired his looks. Glancing back, Daniel nearly spilled out the beer left in his mouth. There was a poster of Muyoung, the old idol turned actor his mother adored. The one that Daniel used as the model for Seongwoo in character form.

“I can’t because I’m not old enough…”

“Hmm? What do you mean you’re not old enough? I mean, you do look super young for your age, no offense. But of course you’re more than a decade past old enough to have a beer legally. I won’t make a fuss but since I’m a fan, I’d like the drinks to be on me. I’ll give you service too. I really enjoyed all of your dramas. I wish I could be an actor as well someday.”

Seongwoo scrunched up every muscle in his pretty face, looking completely dumbfounded. Before he could spill out something from his wavy lips, Daniel kicked him under the table and jutted his chin. Seongwoo slowly turned to see what he was glancing at while the owner shyly giggled behind his dainty, pearlescent hand.

“Oh…” A look of realization crossed his face, his bow shape lips forming a cute circle. “Right, yeah, that’s me. The actor. Just out casually eating with my, um…manager. I’m supposed to be on a diet though, so could you keep it a secret you saw us?”

Daniel sassily raised his eyebrow, not liking being downgraded like that. Seongwoo gave him a little shrug and sheepish smile like what else was he supposed to say in this situation, he needed to make sure they weren’t in the tabloids causing some scandal for the celebrity he happened to resemble that had been a model for Hite at some point apparently.

“Sure, sure I can! It’s good enough that I can see you with my own eyes outside of the screen even once before I die. I don’t want to cause you any harm and I’m not the braggy, privacy invading sort of fan anyway. I’m just a casual fan that respects celebrities as the humans they are.”

“Ah, that’s good to hear. It seems you are a nice person. Thank you for your support. I’m honored.”

Seongwoo offered his hand. The young man eagerly enclosed his hand between both of his, enthusiastically shaking up and down with the hugest smile that was sweet and bright and charming enough to be in a catalogue shoot. He was seriously beautiful enough to be in a magazine or TV himself. The other guys were temporarily stunned into silence, staring at the blindingly pretty man as if they’d been hypnotized.

“You’re welcome, of course! I just want to say before I leave you in peace that it’s really, really nice to meet you! Since I came here from Thailand, I was always waiting for the day when a famous person I follow on Insta will coincidentally wander into my restaurant. Thank you so much for making my dream come true. I really, really, reallyreallyreally, love you, no exaggerating! You’re so handsome and talented! I fell the first time you appeared on TV many years ago when I was just a teen. I even followed your beauty routines to have glowing, flawless skin like you, seriously.”

Seongwoo smiled sweetly, a nervous, bashful giggle escaping him as the tips of his ears turned fucia. Daniel didn’t really like that but he completely understood. It seemed that Seongwoo wasn’t the only person in the world that had that sort of universal charm and beauty that made everyone go ‘goo goo gaga’ over them upon first glance. He was even feeling a bit heated.

That was the second prettily handsome man in the world that he’d ever noticed, though of course he wasn’t going to easily develop feelings or pop a boner with Seongwoo around. No one could beat Seongwoo. He was special, most handsome man in the universe and beyond without a doubt. This Thai guy he’d forget after a couple days but Seongwoo? He hadn’t forgotten him his whole life. Well, the actor Muyoung that was holding up a beer on that poster anyway. How could he forget the gorgeous man that first made him question his sexuality?

Seongwoo was an improved version of him, his ideal type of dream guy on steroids without a single flaw and artfully sculpted features that were unbelievably aesthetic and balanced. Which Muyoung was not exactly, though it was hardly noticeable compared to all the rest of the flawed humans in the world his eyes were used to seeing.

“It’s really really nice to meet a zealous fan like yourself as well. Might I ask your name?”

“My real name is super long and hard to pronounce for Koreans but you can call me Saint!”

“Ah, Saint…That’s a pretty name.”

The young man giggled and Daniel swore flowers, sparkles, butterflies, and confetti danced around his head. What a cute, sweet sound and lovely smile he had.

“Eh, your name is much prettier I think.”

Daniel fingered the handle of the mug, smirking as he thought the name that he’d given the superiorly gorgeous character that no-one could seem to resist falling for was even more beautiful and fitting. His tongue twitched to say so, but he didn’t dare. Since how could they explain that the man in front of them looked exactly like the one in the poster but was not actually him?

They’d probably end up with a rumor going around that the actor had a twin and then this area would be crowded with people attempting to get a glimpse of him to see if it was true. Because if you knew there was another gorgeous man like that one, of course you’d have to see him for yourself and probably attempt to seduce him in the case he was an average, approachable citizen. You could marry your idol in a way. 

Daniel had enough competition already for Seongwoo’s attention with the fans, the classmates, the various staff and clerks they met around the neighborhood when doing errands, also Minhyun was without a doubt the biggest obstacle; he didn’t want any more rivals or blockades for certain. He could barely confess his feelings when they were on intimate dates like this though there was a flirty aura and lots of chances to. He’d go nuts if there were people interrupting them, chasing Seongwoo everywhere, attempting to win his heart and steal him away before he worked up the courage to say his feelings.

Since now the artist had some idea that Seongwoo was at least mildly attracted to him from some awkward incidents they’d had, some secrets he’d seen with his observant, trained eyes. The only thing that stopped him from saying what Seongwoo likely had already guessed was he wasn’t certain if Seongwoo was ONLY attracted to his body. Because he wasn’t going to merely fool around with someone so young and pure in that case.

Seongwoo was a person to love and cherish, not one to have a few quick fucks with. He wouldn’t defile or use that sweet boy for mere sex. He was a gentleman with an old-fashioned soul. He didn’t fool around, especially never with virgins. He only dated someone once he knew there were mutual feelings and then only took the relationship to the physical realm once he was certain they knew each other well and the other was completely ready. Which meant, maybe if they started dating soon then they’d probably have their first magical night after he graduated high school.

That was the only way to keep his conscious clear from guilt. It was one thing to fantasize about a high schooler. It was another thing to physically act on them, especially if there were no deeper feelings and a serious relationship involved. He couldn’t DO a minor; it was just wrong in all ways. Though since his attraction was strong, the story might go another way if Seongwoo ferociously threw himself on him one night.

Ten minutes later, Seongwoo had a free beer and Daniel a free refill. They had a couple pieces of breaded, spicy chicken between their sips of beer. There was a strange, charged mood surrounding them as they locked eyes over their tipped mugs. As if they were mind-reading and challenging each other to drink more or be the first one to break the silence. If Daniel didn’t know better, he would say that Seognwoo was attempting to seduce him as well with just his eyes. They were so emotive, dark, prettily shaped, mysterious, and wicked. Asking him to play, possibly in an intimate sense.

Daniel ended up being the first one to put a stop to their first-ever, intense, rather flirtatious staring contest after a couple minutes. That was because Seongwoo had dropped his mug to his chin and slowly licked some foam off his lip with his onyx eyes hooded. It was such a haughty, seductive look that the determined artist even was thrown off. His pants tightened and his thighs squeezed with a jolt of desire the moment he saw his tongue slide along his curvy lips.

That damn wicked, naughty tongue is the epitome of evil! I should put it in jail! It doesn’t belong to a teenager! Teenagers shouldn’t be able to tempt a grown man to his knees like this, Jee-wiz! Seongwoo chuckled evilly, putting his hand up in a cute, obnoxious victory sign, looking extremely smug as Daniel turned away to cough and wipe his chin from the beer that spilled down. Then, Seongwoo reached across with some more napkins, dabbing at his damp shirt, lingering over one of his firm, rounded pecks. Time stood still as they both froze, eyes flickering from flushed face to tempting chest, chest to face several times. Seongwoo’s face became as red as the dipping sauce when he realized that since his shirt was unbuttoned and he was bent over, Daniel was able to see inside his shirt all the way to his stomach, even his rosy little nipples. He jerked back, protectively crossing his arms over his chest.

“Pervert much!” he bit out accusingly as he sat down. “Why’d you look?!”

Daniel scolded with an irritated huff, “You shouldn’t just go showing off like that then. It’s begging to be looked at, anyone would have. Button up. You’re just a kid. What did I tell you about showing off your body so recklessly? You’ll get raped like that. Be careful and protect yourself from adults. Especially adult men, we’re absolute wolves. Especially inebriated, trust me.”

However, the artist did not deny as he usual would that he’d been staring at the goodies the assistant possessed. Because he knew that he’d been caught red-handed and the liquid flowing through his veins warped his personality, so he didn’t feel like it was necessary to lie.

Seongwoo quickly buttoned his shirt to the uppermost button and for good measure turned up the folded, pointy collar until it covered the majority of his neck, then he crossed his arms and scrunched up his shoulders as if he were a turtle sinking into it’s shell at the sight of a predator. Not that he would mind if a predator like Daniel happened to attempt to defile his untouched body honestly.

It was still an embarrassing situation to be in, having his body suddenly revealed like that and not even in an attractive position. Which was why he got pouty. He kept wondering if his stomach fat had been rolled up like a stack of twinkies or the skin from his slouched over chest seemed like saggy, loose granny boobs. He was mostly tomato-colored from mortification of Daniel thinking his body was unattractive.

“Hyung definitely looked like a wolf there. It was like you were about to bite me. If you’re hungry for meat, there’s lots of chicken to sink your itchy teeth into. Virgin characters that look like humans I assure you aren’t tasty.”

After haughtily half-glaring at each other for a couple of minutes, they started laughing which made them relax and smile comfortably. They apologized for over-reacting because of their drunken stupor, then returned to their chicken. They started giggling every time their eyes caught. Somehow the incident that passed seemed so ridiculously dramatic and out of a comic that it was funny.

Although Daniel disapproved of Seongwoo drinking since he was a minor and attempted to stop him repeatedly, the kind owner kept filling up their glasses and giving them extra foods as service. That’s how they ended up chatting, drinking, and snacking for three hours, much longer than they’d ever stayed at one food place before.

Seongwoo to beer was like a dang kitten to warm milk. He just kept sipping and sipping nearly non-stop. If Daniel hadn’t stuffed food in his mouth or prevented him from raising the mug, reminding him to go slow because he’s a beginner and alcohol had special affects that usually hit later on instead of right way, then Seongwoo would have been wasted on an empty stomach. He was merely tipsy while Daniel was pretty much perfectly fine with his high tolerance and all the muscles and fat that slowed the languidly flowing poison from diving deep into his blood stream.

“Wait here. It’s raining. I’m going to buy an umbrella. Don’t move from this spot.”

Daniel forced the swaying, smiley student to sit down on the dry, stone stairs in front of the chicken joint. There was an awning that protected him from getting dripped on. After hesitant steps and a couple of nervous glances at Seongwoo to make sure he was being good, Daniel raised up his hands and rushed to the nearby convenience store.

In a couple of minutes, he was back with an umbrella held over his head, reaching out for Seongwoo’s dainty wrist. Seongwoo squealed and swayed as the elder attempted to pull him up, acting as if he were on some sort of swinging ride. Daniel tucked him to his side under his arm, securely holding onto his shoulder. Eventually he stopped swaying, naturally slinking his arms around Daniel’s waist. He laid his head on his shoulder, closing his eyes and smiling goofily. He looked very much content.

“Hmm, this is nice. You’re so big, warm, soft, cozy, Mr. Teddybear.”

“I’m not a bear. I’m a Samoyed.”

“Ah, right. I remember. Mr. Samoyed, you’re so snuggly. Can I hold you like this?”

Daniel blushed, his skin tingling and rushing with a blast of heat as Seongwoo squeezed and pressed up against him even more, nuzzling his neck with his rounded button nose. Damn was that nice.

_Much too nice. You can hold me forever like that, baby. Please someone freeze time right now. I don’t want him to let go. I want to rub his nose and kiss those pretty lips so badly._

“I guess. At least you won’t fall down on our walk home that way.”

With Seongwoo clinging to him and lightly hiccupping, then giggling after every time like it was the funniest thing ever, they gradually made their way down the wet, dark streets. Daniel kept his eyes shifting with scrutiny between their surroundings and Seongwoo’s stumbling, unstable as a toddler’s steps, making sure that he wouldn’t trip or bump into anything, swerving or pushing when necessary to avoid any potential hazards. They had almost safely arrived at their destination when some pathetic, attention-seeking meows reached his ears.

“Oh? Hyung, it’s kittens. Oh, poor things~ They’re abandoned in the rain without any cover or food. Hmm, let’s help them please.”

Daniel didn’t think it was a good idea to take the stray kittens huddled under a bush home. But he did feel like he needed to help them since they were so small and their tiny mewls quite pitiful. They must be scared, lonely, and miserable. At least he could do something to keep them dry, warm, and cozy until the rain stopped.

Seongwoo held the umbrella over the crouched down man as he made a house out of some recyclables for them to keep dry under. The kittens scampered underneath it as soon as the human backed some distance away. They cuddled up together for warmth, wrapping their paws and tails around each other like a blanket, their glowing eyes nervously peering at them outside of the hole. Seongwoo wanted to touch them but Daniel told him he shouldn’t because they were probably wild, which meant they might scratch him in their fear.

Seongwoo refused to leave them yet, thinking they needed some loving and attention. They squatted down under the umbrella, smiling, talking, and meowing at the kittens. What could Daniel say when Seongwoo pulled the ‘I know what it’s like to not have any parents around’ card? The kittens softly mewled back as if they understood them, their eyes going from wary to sleepy. Eventually they fell asleep, head resting on top of each other’s head or paws in an intimate embrace. Seongwoo rested his cheek on his folded fingers, smiling peacefully.

“They’re so cute, right?”

Daniel nodded, though he was more glancing at Seongwoo because whenever he was showing his affection for animals it tugged strongly at his heart strings. Pretty boy with pets, that was most definitely his biggest weakness in terms of something fluffy.

“Hmm, they are. Kittens are always adorable and entertaining. Come to think of it, what’s going with Kitty?”

“Well, I guess she’s playing on her own and eating the food I left. I asked the nanny to check on her and play with her and clean her little box when she visits. She’s getting pretty fat and sleeps most of the day. Since I’m spending more time here, she must be lonely and I’m worried that she might run out of food if she doesn’t ration it out properly. Do you think I should bring her back with me next time? It worked for you perfectly fine before. It’s probably better for her to be with you and then she would have friends…”

Daniel chuckled and bumped him in jest. “First, you pop out of nowhere and ask to stay with me several times a week for free. Then, you bring clothes, books, and toiletries. You arrange my entire place, refurbish with my card. Cook and clean regularly. Now you’re giving me your cat to care for while you go back to school. Basically, we’re already cohabitating. We might as well just saw we’re married.”

Although Daniel had meant it completely as a joke, Seongwoo became embarrassed. His face turned redder than ever and his hands covered his face as if he’d hear something shocking. When Daniel realized the silly thing he’d commented on thoughtlessly, he became bashful as well. For a moment, they squatted side by side, faces flaming, unable to look at each other out of fear the other would see just how much that statement affected them.

Seongwoo murmured more to himself, dropping his hand to lightly rest on Daniel’s knee which he’d thought was his own accidentally. “That idea doesn’t sound so bad. I wonder if you would think of me as a good wife...”

Daniel had heard that softly spoken, shy comment loud and clear. It attacked his weakened heart like a slur of arrows. He hadn’t realized that the way he’d jerked in surprise had caused Seongwoo to precariously start to tip over to the side until the warmth was no longer felt at his legs. He slid his arm around Seongwoo’s waist just in time, bringing him upright, pressing against his legs again securely.

“Woah!” Daniel exclaimed as he saved the younger from falling onto the wet pavement.

Seongwoo gasped, clinging to his leg for support and tossing his body more in Daniel’s direction. As a result, when he lifted his head to say thank you, they were mere inches from each other, nose to nose directly. Their hearts pounded loudly in their ears, their eyes widened and then hooded as they slowly traveled to their slacked open, supple lips, the neurons of their brains were jammed with static unable to function. The idea of brushing their tempting lips together faintly at that moment was extremely appealing.

Time seemed to slowed almost to a full pause. The only sounds were of the rain falling and cars passing by on the damp streets. It felt like background music playing in the love scene of a romance movie.

It seemed like the perfect moment to subtly let their crush now just how they were feeling. But did the pair dare to make the final, critical move?

“Where is this? Is this where Seongwoo is staying? It seems like a total dump. Surely he didn’t leave me for a guy who cannot even afford decent housing…”

Minhyun came out of a pixelated, swirling, buzzing portal that appeared in the wall of a dimly lit ally. At the first step into this mysterious other world he figured Seongwoo was traveling back and forth to in order to visit that artist guy, he had come face to face with the oddest looking house made of cardboard, plastic bags, a mattress, and empty garbage bins. He wandered around, sticking his nose near out of curiosity, then his handsome face scrunched with distaste.

“It stinks like rotten food and sweat, ugh. Is the guy a damn bum?”

He put his hands on his waist, flipping out the wings of his dark trench coat which delicately billowed in the breeze. He glanced around the grimy, trash covered alley for any signs of people. It was a city, wasn’t it? Or was it a countryside town?

Feeling irritated that there wasn’t even the faint sounds of whispers or footsteps, he kicked at one of the bins, making half the make-shift house crumble though he could hardly care about a pile of house let alone the pathetic bum that called it home. He was dumbfounded and annoyed that he would have to search around like Sherlock Holmes for clues when all he wanted to do was hurry up with this business so he could get back to his normal life.

“Well, now I’m here. But where’s my fiancé? As quick as possible, I want to tell him that I like him for real and then bring him back with me. To were he belongs. By my side, with a luxurious, comfortable life, a set-out, stable path to follow. He can’t possibly have a better life in this unimpressive dump. That good for nothing artist, really. I should have dealt with you as soon as I sensed you were trouble. To get Seongwoo back where it’s safe, I’ll do whatever it takes. Even kill.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a great weekend everyone. Re-read this steamy/fluffy chapter, check out my new college rom com story based on 2gether which is called Click. Buy Daniel's album if you can on Monday and tickets if they're available Tuesday for his fan meeting on 7/25! As for Seongwoo, keep collecting and drop all your votes on fan plus to get him that bday ad in NYC! Also, check out AB6ix album, mv, and lives if you haven't! This album is so good I keep listening to pretty much only that. The lives for Red Up and Surreal and the Answer are all great, each and every one. 
> 
> If you're enjoying this story then I'd love to hear your feedback soon, spam me with novel comments or just say 'hey this was good' either way i'm super stoked : ) BTW we have two chapters left and angst is coming next one so get ready. Minhyun's gonna get a bit evil here so I'm sorry to anyone who stans him, it's just fiction you know~ 
> 
> Stay healthy, fangirl happily, get lots of sleep and eat well~ 
> 
> <3 Raina


	6. Resolving Complicated Issues (M)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhyun comes to visit their place and attacks Daniel on sight. Daniel isn't the sort to simply take a punch, especially because a part of him never liked Minhyun even when he wasn't being a violent prick. Seongwoo gets between them when shouting doesn't work, taking an accidental hit. He decides he needs to have 'the talk' with Minhyun, asking Daniel to go out so they can speak privately. Daniel stays out all night long, torn up by his own overactive demons, walking around in the pouring rain. When he comes back, he's too sick and anxious to hear who with and where Seongwoo chose to remain.

**WARNING:** This chapter includes underage sexual activity (non-explicit) towards the end.

_Daniel: Do it before you lose the chance. He wants to kiss you…probably. It seems like he wants that. The mood is right, his eyes are closed and he’s waiting for something. Lean forward and peck those wavy sweets once. No time to be a coward._

_Seongwoo: Did he do it? Not feeling anything yet. Huh, how many seconds have passed even…He’s really not doing it. Maybe I should move in first? Is he waiting for me to initiate?_

_Daniel: I really, really want to but…am I reading the signs wrong? Does he really want me to do that? Or am I overthinking because of my own selfish wishes?_

_Seongwoo: Ugh, I swear, this hyung is infuriating! Why isn’t anything happening still? How long do I need to be frozen? This is embarrassing to keep my eyes closed. He might be watching me and laughing right now. It could be all a joke and I’m the biggest fool, laying out my feelings so rashly like this. Please, hyung, don’t tease me, just kiss me already!_

Daniel finally made a move just when Seongwoo opened his eyes, seeing the blonde closing in with his thick lips loose and pursed. A featherlight brush came a moment later and the first real, intentional kiss they’d been agonizing over was over with. It was sort of like a famous movie series with a beautiful setting and an anticlimactic climax moment. Although somehow that was good for them because they were anxious about it before and terrified of the consequences slapping them afterwards.

After the small, innocent kiss, nothing dramatic really happened. There was just a warm, peaceful, fluttery sort of aura around them, their hearts beating strong but steadier than before, their pleasantly tingling lips timidly curving into the apples of their pinkening cheeks.

For a few seconds, they shared an affectionate, sweet look still under the soaked umbrella. Then, Daniel stood up, pulling Seongwoo up gently by the elbow.

“Let’s get inside before you catch a cold, kitten.”

The younger responded with an offended, stubborn pout, “I don’t get sick like before.”

“Still, you’re the type that’s sensitive to weather changes. Just the sort of kid that would start sneezing from sitting under the air conditioner too long, going to bed without drying your hair, being out in the rain, drinking too many cold drinks on a hot day. I can just feel it.”

Seongwoo jutted out his wavy, seal lips, frown-pouting with extra attitude. Daniel thought he looked like an angry squirrel. He desperately wanted to steal another kiss, firmer, longer, maybe more passionate this time but he held himself back.

_You don’t know why he let you kiss him yet. He might not like you that way but just feels like he needs to oblige you since he’s staying at your place. Maybe he was confused or just going with the flow of the mood and all. Plus, he’s still a minor and you’re outside in public. You should reign yourself back, otherwise who knows what will happen. People could get hurt._

“I’m not a kid. Stop calling me that.”

“Why? Just because you had your first kiss? Now you’re an adult? I think you need to have sex first at least.”

“Yah! How can you just say it like that! So brazen!” Seongwoo gasped and slapped him, turning beat red from his ears to his neck, confirming that Daniel’s educated guess was accurate.

Daniel laughed sheepishly, getting sort of embarrassed after he’d let that slip without thinking too. He’d meant it to be only in his head. He couldn’t help but smile wide and toss back his wide shoulders more, proud that he’d guessed right.

He HAD been Seongwoo’s first kiss, several times now. How adorable. And how tempting it was to be his second and third any moment. Again, he reigned himself in, having to be satisfied with pinching that fluffy, bitable cheek and then tucking the thinner man under his arm, leading him down the street. It was intriguing how they were about the same height yet Seongwoo seemed small and perfectly fit under his arm.

“You’re still a kiddo to me. You didn’t graduate and you are still shorter than me.”

“Hmph. I’m going to buy some shoes with three-centimeter platform soles tomorrow! I’m so sick of you lording that damn one centimeter over my head, I swear. You’re such an arrogant bully! I’m not talking to you anymore, forget it.”

Daniel burst into boisterous, hearty laughter as Seongwoo sulked and stamped his feet, forcing him to go faster in the area he presumed would be where the shoe store was. He rushed to keep up, not wanting his favorite kitten to get wet, or experience any other thing he detested.

_Ah, so cute this kiddo is. He’s really turning me into even more of a softie, like a dang marshmallow. I can’t stop smiling despite my cheeks are aching now. Even the cats don’t make me smile this much. He’s really extraordinary. So lovable, every part of him from hair to toenail._

Minhyun wandered the city for hours until he was so sick of the same dull, dirty looking buildings that he was about to give up when he spotted a familiar figure. Even from several blocks away, he could recognize his best friend of over a decade from a mere glimpse. There was no-one with those particular model proportions or lovely, charismatic, aristocratic aura.

He was with someone, going into a small building. Someone who happened to have wavy blonde hair and unusually broad shoulders, which was enough sign to give him an idea who Seongwoo was staying with.

He had to grudgingly admit as he peered at the building, “It’s quaint. At least it looks more like a home than the bum’s. It’s nothing like what we’re used to though. I bet it’s a tiny one room like school dropouts have. Besides looks, that old man’s got nothing.”

He followed them in, attempting to remain inconspicuous with tips from various secret agent movies. Once he saw where the elevator was going, he took the next ride up. It stopped at the fifth floor. Inside, there were only four rooms to choose from. He pressed his ear to each door, listening for any sounds of movement inside.

One was empty, another had a family, another one there wasn’t anyone talking but the sound of a movie going instead. He opted for the farthest one that had men’s voices, assuming that the artist was too young and poor to have children just yet. He didn’t seem like he was over thirty anyway. The idea of being forced to grow up in a shoebox like this made his nose scrunch. The doors and walls weren’t sound proofed and it was in desperate need of repainting. Could you even say it’s a house? More like camping in the old west.

“Would you like an extra egg in it?”

“Sure, I’m famished. Hook me up, Boss.”

“Eggsellent~”

“Pfft. Nerd.”

Daniel finished putting the umbrella in a cupboard. Seongwoo was in the kitchen boiling noodles for ramen, their favorite meal. A knock on the door sounded which was odd. Daniel hardly ever had guests. Certainly none that were unannounced.

Figuring it was a peddler, he attempted to ignore. The knocking only grew louder each couple of seconds it was ignored however, until the point it was thunderous enough that the door was shaking in its frame.

Daniel huffed with irritation, then stomped over and yanked the door open. He was ready to give this rude, persistent weasel a piece of his mind.

“Whatever you are selling, we don’t want it obviously, which is why we didn’t answer the door, so just buzz off—”

His words choked off as a tall, dark coated figure lunged for him the moment there was a slight gap in the door. Daniel was shoved to the wall in shock, the assailant’s elbow jammed painfully into his throat, his hand digging into his arm as he held it down. With his other arm, Daniel quickly pushed the guy’s chest and mustered enough breath to call for help.

“Seongwoo!”

Seongwoo immediately could tell something was wrong. He’d heard a bang, sounds of a struggle, and Daniel’s voice seemed distressed. He gasped the instant he rounded the corner with a spatula raised up as a weapon.

“Minhyun?!”

It couldn’t be but somehow it was. As they paused and squinted at the assailant, they saw it was the unbelievable truth. Minhyun was in their world, in the flesh, just as solid and non-translucent as Seongwoo was. Much fiercer, taller, and stronger than he seemed in the comic somehow. Much more lethally murderous especially. None of them had ever seen him even have a fight with someone who deserved it, as it wasn’t his style in dealing with issues. Daniel was struggling although he clearly had more muscles, suggesting something was making the character furious beyond anyway that he’d ever been.

The other was thrown off for a second when Seongwoo appeared, which gave Daniel a much sought-after opportunity. He shook off his hand, then used all the strength he possessed in his upper body to shove Minhyun’s chest. He flew across the foyer, slamming back into the other wall with a groan. Pissed off at being attacked like that and somehow not trusting what he was doing here, Daniel got revenge immediately by swinging his tightened fist at his cheek.

Minhyun didn’t simply let himself get punched and call it even. He kneed Daniel in the stomach just before his fist landed, both inflicting smarting blows that meant business simultaneously. When Daniel was bent over, clutching at his spleen in agony, Minhyun grabbed him by the collar and then sent a solid, bony fist into his cheek, splattering blood on the floor as skin and teeth and a watch collided. They heard but ignored Seongwoo’s gasps.

Daniel scoffed, licking up some of the blood and snarking. “Fucking sissy. That was weak. My cats hit harder.”

Minhyun sneered with unbridled hatred, almost half-mad. “I’m going easy on you. That was a warm-up.”

“Same here. Next time I’ll knock you out.”

“You can try, but I won’t go down easily. We all learn self-defense in case we get kidnapped.”

“Why am I surprised? Nothing privileged people aren’t taught, are they? Except decent manners.”

Minhyun yanked Daniel’s hair and hissed, “How dare you claim to have manners when you stole Seongwoo to some other world? Hypocrite. Criminal. Fake, lying, deceitful asshole.”

“Wait! Don’t fight! There’s obviously a misunderstanding here. Can’t we talk about this? Why are you two trying to kill each other? Yah, you bunch of knuckleheads! There’s other ways to solve disagreements besides your fists! Stop being fucking imbecile cave men!” Seongwoo shouted, waving his spread-out palms in frustration as his head flipped back and forth, no choice but to watch dumbfounded from the sidelines as the people he cared about most wailed on each other like professional boxers, releasing months of pent-up negativity and mutual dislike.

The brutal punches continued until Seongwoo had to physically get between them before they knocked their last bit of functionality away. He simply couldn’t see the blood and scratches anymore.

“Shit, Seongwoo-yah…Are you alright?” Daniel gasped in horror as his fist landed on Seongwoo’s cheek.

Minhyun leered arrogantly, grabbing Seongwoo and pulling him close as if he needed protection from a Wildman. “See, told you you’re no good. You hit him. I bet that’s not even a first. What you poor trash will do for a bit of cash.”

Daniel sputtered. “Hey, that was an accident! I would never hurt him on purpose. He came here willingly. I don’t even ask for his money. It’s not even usable here! And I’m not poor, otherwise--”

“ENOUGH!”

At last, the house fell silent. Seongwoo’s earth-shaking lion-like roar made their mouths clamp shut, staring at him with apprehension and guilt like two kicked puppies with their tails between their legs. Seongwoo was so pissed that he barely noticed the punch he’d taken was starting to seriously smart already, his nostrils flaring and body tense like a dragon about to spit fire. He glared and pointed at them as he sternly lectured the two now calmly collapsed on the floor with their heads drooping.

“You! Stop being nasty and using your fists because it’s not helping anything get cleared. Obviously, Minhyun is here because he’s worried about me, he doesn’t know you, and I’ve been missing from school.

And you! You’re misunderstanding something and need to listen to me. No one forced me here. I came here on my own by accident, then I stayed because I wanted to. I have nowhere else to stay, no money to use, my ID isn’t valid either so I can’t get a legal job here. So, Daniel agreed to give me a job as his assistant while letting me stay at his place. I come back and forth as I wish at my own will. Like he said, there’s no point in even collecting money from me because it’s not usable here. I wasn’t drugged and dragged here. Nor am I being held ransom or blackmailed. You are accusing an innocent person of evil deeds he never even thought to commit.

Now, can my two best friends just stop hating on each other assuming the worst and make up already? This is ridiculous.”

“Alright, I’ll stop as long as HE doesn’t try to start anything again. He attacked me first, you saw that too. He didn’t even say hello before choking me with a psychotic look,” Daniel grumbled, struggling to get up.

Seongwoo watched him with concern, arms out to catch him in case he swayed too far. After his outburst, his mood was stabilizing quickly.

More softly, sort of scared that Daniel would misunderstand that he was taking Minhyun’s side more, he answered, “Yes, I understand. He’s more in the wrong here. But you know that it’s for a reason. You know better than anyone how overprotective and temperamental he is…”

“Sure, but I didn’t know he could be so damn violent. I didn’t write him to be like that. Tch.”

Seongwoo winced, glancing at Minhyun who had his head tilted, swelling foxy eyes narrowing as he observed Daniel.

“What do you mean you ‘didn’t write me’?” he pressed lowly.

Seongwoo answered nervously, “Er…I’ll explain that. Wait, hyung, where are you going? You’re not in good condition to move already. You might have a concussion…”

Daniel grumbled in response, “I’m going to get ice. You’re starting to swell. It was my wildly swinging fist that hit you because I couldn’t stop myself in time. I should take responsibility…”

“Ah, I see.” Seongwoo absently touched his face and winced. It was sore and larger than usual as if his skin was ballooning out. “Take it easy though, hyung.”

“Tch. Says the person who stupidly jumped in the middle of a fight. You call ME the reckless dumb one.”

Seongwoo anxiously watched Daniel limp to the kitchen, weight propped on the wall, holding his stomach. It seemed he was feeling the beating he’d taken now that the adrenaline rush wore off. He would take care of him if only his friend weren’t also there, needing explanations, scolding, and caring. Minhyun was giving him a look that suggested he wouldn’t let him take a step even towards the bathroom until he told him the truth about what he’d just heard.

Seongwoo sighed softly, leaning down to grab his arm and pull. “Don’t look at me like that, Min. Of course I’ll tell you everything. In time. Let’s move to the couch though. The floor is uncomfortable.”

The three tall, handsome men with unique characters awkwardly sat on the couch, Seongwoo in the middle, all nursing their wounds with ice packs, bloody tissues piled up on the coffee table.

“So, to paraphrase. This IS an alternate universe. The one where we live is what this loser—”

“Daniel. His name is Daniel.”

“Loser Daniel, excuse me, created.”

Seongwoo stilled Daniel from lurching over and slamming Minhyun in the back of the head for his blunt rudeness by resting a hand on his thigh. Daniel settled down like a magic spell was cast, remaining tense and growling low in his throat. Minhyun glared at where they were connecting, obviously intensely disapproving. Seeing that, Daniel decided to brag and tease him, resting his hand over the back of Seongwoo’s. Seongwoo didn’t seem to think much of it if he noticed the warmth. Today he was preoccupied doing damage control before these two killed each other and left him with a huge mess that would get him likely locked up for life.

“Yes, that’s correct. His world is the more realistic one. Although ours isn’t exactly fully fake either. People here like Daniel can control characters through stories. I’m not sure about others, but in our case, he cannot fully dictate what we do. There’s some sort of space between the scenes which I call the shadows. There, our personalities are different and our decisions are our own. We are more like our true selves and can live as we want.”

“And you prefer it here? That’s why you haven’t been around and been unreachable?”

“Well, yes, mostly. I’m free and I’m healthy. I can do something useful while drawing, which is my only passion.”

“But…it’s not safe here. You don’t have family or anyone to protect you. You can’t earn money or go to school. You can’t be a freeloading assistant in this shoebox home forever. What if he kicks you out? Are you going to live on the street in cardboard boxes in trash covered alleys like bums do? It’s not a stable, safe place. Your sickness might come back. Have you ever thought of that? How can you know you’re fully healed? Without an ID or insurance, of course you can’t go to the hospital here if an attack happens. You’d be arrested if you were found out to not have a real ID.”

“I know that, but as long as I’m with Daniel it IS safe. He’s taking care of that. He’ll find a way. Even in the case of my sickness returning.”

“How long can you guarantee it? Did you sign a contract with him? How can you possibly trust him when you barely know him? There must be some motive he has to get close to you, like how he was there at the park right when you needed someone and now he’s totally using you for free. If he gets angry with you, then you’ll be on the streets in this hellhole all alone. I can’t allow it. You’re much too good for that with a bright future ahead of you. Be rational and come back. Where you belong. Where you’ll be protected.”

“Where you, your parents, my grandma, and the bodyguards can watch and report my every move so nothing can ever happen to me you mean? Where I cannot even decide how I spend my free time? Where I’m terrified I’m going to collapse any day?”

“You can collapse here as well, like I said. But not get any help, living without your medicine, and then you’ll die. Positive. There’s so many bad things that could happen in a commoner city, Seongwoo-yah. You can’t defend yourself. It’s dangerous. You have no money. You can’t be protected all the time by a busy, irresponsible commoner you barely know. It’s not like you are fully restricted back home, either. You still draw, no-one’s stopping you. You can find another artist to assist, maybe a famous one.”

“Yeah, but no-one is encouraging or allowing me to pursue the arts, are they? I have to fight with my grandma constantly just to draw as much as I do, just to go to the academy. I can’t do anything useful with it either. Just doodling, winning meaningless contests with only a handful of people on my side.”

“Why is it meaningless? You don’t even show it to her or try to convince her about your passion. If that’s what the problem is, then I’ll help you persuade—”

“Minhyun, just stop it already! Why are you so insistent about me being there? When you know exactly how unhappy I am? How scared I am of dying? How sick and bored of my life as an invalid puppet I am? I’m not even going to be living here. I’m going to go back and forth. I’m totally healthy here. There’s no chance for a relapse so don’t worry about that. I know my body best and it’s never felt this good, without taking even one pill. I’m only sick there, not here. I don’t want to go back to being sick, thinking I could die any day.

Just leave me alone. You’ve seen that I’m doing fine. I’ve got a place to stay and a purpose and I’m enjoying myself. I swear Daniel is a good person you can trust not to toss me out on a whim. I promise that I’ll return and finish school. It’s not like you won’t ever see me.”

“Even if you say that… Since I can’t see you every day to know how you’re doing. Since you don’t belong here with bums and low-class, poor artists. Since there’s no-one to properly provide for all you need. I’m still going to worry. I don’t like it.

You need to go back, Seongwoo-yah. That’s enough playing runaway and commoner. You’re one of the elite, you have more than this like you deserve. Things that are more comfortable and luxurious. That suits you better than commoner mediocrity and second-hand, worn down stuff. You’re family is there too, even if you don’t always see eye-to-eye, including my parents who adore you like their own son. You can’t just leave us like that, like we don’t mean anything to you when I know we do. I’m not going to take no for an answer. Enough being a stubborn baby. I’ll give you a couple of days to clear things up, then I’ll come back to fetch you.”

Seongwoo cut him off, more irritated than ever. “Why are you being so clingy? Trying to guilt trip me with your parents? I think you’re the one more acting like a baby right now. We aren’t dating, you know? Even as my close friend who worries for my wellbeing, never before have you interfered so much in what I do with my free time. You never dictated who I can spend time with. Just because you’re a friend or a fiancé doesn’t mean you can control me. It’s seriously crossing the line, which is making me upset.

What’s your problem, honestly? It’s only going to be sometimes. I don’t know what you have against Daniel so much when you don’t know him, but I wish that you would at least trust my judgement in people. I’m safe here. He’s a good person. He’s not going to throw me out on the street. He’s not a stranger. He’s literally our creator. Without him, we wouldn’t even exist. Show some respect and faith.”

Seongwoo’s resistance and scolding eventually set the boiling under a calm façade man into an explosive outrage. Seongwoo had never heard so much raw emotion, desperation, and stress in his tone.

“You want to know why I don’t like you staying here? Because I like you. You’re my fiancé, not just my friend. You’re supposed to be with me. You need to be by my side where you belong. So, I can protect and care for you. Like it always has been. Like our story was supposed to go before this noisy loser nobody interfered. From some point you stopped being just my friend. I’m in love with you now, so I’m anxious not having you around. You’re a constant in my life. I want you back with me. What’s so good about him? What can he do for you that I don’t already do? He barely knows you. I know everything about you. He’s been in your life five minutes. I’ve been in your life nearly fifteen years.”

Seongwoo was about to snap to Daniel’s defense that Daniel knew everything about him, but he thought it was better not to go there. He barely knew himself until he’d become aware of everything. These two were probably about the same in how much they knew about his true character. Daniel had been told more. Minhyun had seen more of his real self in the shadows, although he hadn’t remembered it most of the time.

Somehow he didn’t want to hurt his best friend like that, knowing how much pride he had. If he was sincere in his confession this time, he wouldn’t like being rejected and him defending another man directly in front of him. At least he owed to talk to him about this emotional, private matter alone. It was between them and it was a long time coming since he foolishly avoided addressing it. It shouldn’t involve Daniel. After all, it wasn’t Daniel that wrote this complicated scenario for them.

Minhyun’s feelings were his own developed in the shadows over many years of companionship and dependency. Though Daniel had been right, he realized. How foolish he’d been not to have seen it and addressed it before it exploded into this huge ordeal. Getting Daniel hurt and disturbing his work hours. Of course, Minhyun had acted strange for so long because he had feelings for him, or at least was convinced he did.

“Daniel, I’m sorry. Can you go out for a bit? We need to have a talk in private.”

Daniel was hesitant to leave, glancing at Minhyun as if he were a rabid fox with rabies not to be trusted. Minhyun didn’t look at Daniel any nicer.

“He’s not going to drag me back, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’ll be fine. Just give us twenty or thirty minutes or so. Go get some fresh air. Hmm?”

Seongwoo was soft-voiced but insistent about Daniel leaving, eventually having to pull him up and push the stubborn, protective puppy to the door. He found it slightly amusing, though he didn’t dare laugh at the stress and anxiety in Daniel’s eyes which kept shifting warily to Minhyun.

“He’s not going to hurt me, seriously. We’re best friends. You also know that he’s not a bad person deep down, not the worst sort anyway. I just need to say something to him, but he would be embarrassed if it was in front of you is all. Can you please give us a moment? I promise it won’t be long.”

“Alright, fine…but shout if you need me. Kick him in the balls if he tries to force himself on you. Don’t let him get away with anything just because of kinship. The second he crosses the line and makes you feel uncomfortable, hurt him and call for me.”

Seongwoo glanced away from the pouting cutie to check that Minhyun was still staring at his linked hands. He was bent over, lost in thought with a murky aura around him as if he was suspecting the end of the world and regretting he sped up the process with his series of incredibly emotional, rash actions.

Once he was sure the coast was clear, Seongwoo swooped in to peck Daniel on a part of his undamaged cheek. The blonde smiled and flushed immediately, looking incredibly boyish after their second real kiss. Seongwoo smiled softly, proud of himself for knowing the best way to instill a sense of security back into his worried, overprotective, sensitive puppy / boyfriend.

“Take care, hyung. See you soon.”

Daniel turned around on his way out the open door to say quickly over Seongwoo’s shoulder in a low, menacing tone, “If you try to do anything against his will, you’ll have me to answer to. I’m you’re creator and I’m all powerful. If I choose to erase you from existing, it WILL happen.”

Seongwoo shook his head as he gently pushed the big guy out and shut the door, smiling with exasperation and amusement. He was really a loss at what to do with that obvious bluff stemming from Daniel’s need to show off his masculinity, defending his ‘territory’ from the invader. Basically, they were cavemen showing off their clubs were longer. However, he decided it was better for Minhyun to think that Daniel was all-powerful, since in the future that would get him to hesitate before doing something drastic like this.

Minhyun took his hands and started a long, sincere, chocked up speech as soon as Seongwoo gingerly perched on the couch. Seongwoo was stunned since it was one of the only times he’d ever seen Minhyun nearing tears, seeming so strangely average human.

“Seongwoo-yah, just look at us. You know it. Everyone knows it. We are perfect together. We’re meant to be in every way. Our parents saw it when we were just toddlers, how suitable we are. How much we care for each other. How great we get along.

We’ve never even had a fight or grown distant. I can feel it in my bones that we are soulmates. That we belong together. Ever since you stopped coming to school, every day feels wrong. It feels like something is missing and my life is unstable. Like the world as I knew it stopped turning and won’t continue until you are back for good. I’m so moody and unfocused all the time. I can’t stand how everyone is fine with it even if they do notice.

I’ve learned through this awakening process so much more than that our world isn’t fully real. You’re a much bigger existence in my life than I even thought, Seongwoo-yah. You belong with me, not with some lowlife old artist who can’t provide what you need in life. Your life will be so much more difficult with him, can’t you see that just looking at this shabby, mousehole of a place? He doesn’t possibly know you like I do either, so you’ll surely have big arguments and misunderstandings. It’s been over a decade that we’ve spent almost every day together. I thought we’re on the same page about this, how we felt and thought. What changed? Please, reconsider…”

Seongwoo rubbed his friend’s slightly quivering, chilly hands as he got stuck in his thoughts.

_He’s fully aware of himself then. The feelings that he developed once Daniel came between us and I paid less attention to him ended up being his trigger. What he’s saying now is real, he means it, and nothing is going to be forgotten like before. I have to be serious and careful with what I say. But I also can’t protect him fully. I need to be honest as I never have been. I can’t continue this rouge anymore, even if I’m scared to hurt and lose my friend. Something in our relationship needs a drastic change and we can only start the healing process by first making the gaping wound._

“Minhyun, my friend…It’s about time that I be brutally honest and tell you some bad news. I’m going to tell you my feelings and mindset which I’ve had for many years now but been keeping to myself out of respect for you. You won’t like it and it could likely ruin our friendship, but I’ve got to say it because I think that’s the right thing to do. I don’t want to give you false hope or drag this fantasy on any longer. Nothing changed, I just didn’t think the way that you did. I didn’t want to be engaged, I was just going along with it for the time being. The thing that you’re wishing for with me, it’s not ever going to happen. Because I don’t like you as more than a friend. I never have and I never will. We can’t be married. We can’t be together like that.”

“You do like me, I’m sure. You just don’t know it yet. Just like I didn’t realize what my complicated thoughts were until recently. There’s something special between us. If you just try, I think we can be intimate, then our relationship can continue on for real…”

Minhyun cradled his cheek, diving in for a kiss in attempt to get the other to see they could feel something physical and alter their relationship if they tried. Seongwoo turned to avoid it, intensely repulsed by the idea of anyone replacing the feeling of Daniel, his wonderful first kiss memory. Although Minhyun hugged him and continued his attempts to kiss his lips, Seongwoo refused to allow it. He was only able to kiss his cheek until Seongwoo got annoyed, spun his hands free, and shoved him off.

“You’ve tried enough. It’s not going to work, seriously. Just accept it. I don’t want to date you or be engaged to you. I don’t want to be in an arranged marriage, no matter how much I like your family or care about the promise that was made. We’ve got to stop the act because it’s wrong and it’s hurting us and them more and more in the end. I won’t marry you; I never intended to. I even tried to tell you that so many times, but you wouldn’t listen and turned it into a joke.

I have wanted to break off our engagement for a long time. Never have I thought about it seriously. When you hug me or touch me, I don’t feel anything, Minhyun. There’s no special spark. We can’t be intimate when I’m not attracted to you that way.

More importantly, we can’t be together because I don’t even really want to return to my life there. I don’t want to be rich, I don’t want to inherit the company, I hate the idea of being sick or having my future planned out for me without any choice. After I graduate, I have no intention to go back there. You don’t want to be married to a ghost, I’m sure.

Don’t be stuck on me and miss out on greater opportunities. There’s many wonderful people in the world out there more suitable for you, dying to be with you all day and night, who want a luxurious life and being spoiled. You should give up on me, let us return to being normal friends once your feelings have faded or been sorted, and then pursue them with an open heart. You might realize soon that you’re simply confused about how you’re feeling because you’re always only with me. You care for me a lot and you feel responsible for me, that might be what you’re mistaking as love. Some of it’s surely obligation to my parents as well. But that’s not what we have. There has to be some sort of special spark there for it to be called love, just like you see in movies. Like a racing heart or blushing.

You don’t make me feel that, as you can see. Check for yourself. It’s impossible for us to have those kinds of feelings, you will see. My heart is still.”

There was a heavy silence lingering over them as Minhyun studied his distraught, serious, tensed face and felt their chests. Like Seongwoo had said, he didn’t sense any irregularity in the temperature or their heart beats.

“Is it sinking in now? Thank you for caring for me all this time, but I cannot return your feelings. I want to stay here where I’m healthy and free to pursue things. Like art and the person that I truly can love, who makes my heart race just being close by. Where my relationship and my career goes, I want to dictate where that goes on my own. I want to be free-spirited and independent. I want to get dirty, make mistakes, have an accident or two, learn and gain confidence from those experiences. I want to live as a commoner. I feel like I will fit in and be happier in this world with this sort of simple lifestyle. I wish if you really are my friend you will respect my wishes. Stop trying to force me back there where I feel uncomfortable and holding back my wings when I finally have a chance to stretch them out and attempt to learn to fly.”

Minhyun rubbed his chest for a moment more with gentle, lingering affection. Then he dropped his hand and sighed, head and shoulders drooping like a wet towel.

He agreed sadly, “Hmm. I understand. I won’t interfere anymore. I don’t want you to be unhappy, of course.”

Seongwoo smiled and pat his arm. “Thanks. You’re a good person, I know. So, that’s why I’m sorry I can’t feel the same…”

The other winced and whined, “Enough talking about that. How many times you have to stamp on my pride, Seongwoo? Such a cold, cruel guy.”

Seongwoo laughed lightly. “Alright, I won’t talk about it again. You should be allowed to lick your wounds. I won’t add anymore salt.”

Each stumbled step Daniel took down the damp street was agonizing but he was able to ignore that because it was nothing compared to the searing feeling occurring in his chest. As if he was being torn apart from the tender insides.

He was scared, angry, heartbroken, betrayed, anxious. His emotions battled as fierce as the storm going out outside. It was thundering and sheets of rain dumped over his head like small waterfalls from the purple and dark grey clouds blanketing the sky.

He had no idea what to do with the intense negative emotions fighting for dominance. As usual, the best solution for an issue for him was to exercise. Even though his leg was injured, he continued to power walk around the town, getting drenched by the rain all through the night. Attempting to clear his head and become calmer.

He returned to his place near dawn once he was too cold and miserable to stand being outside anymore, although he wasn’t feeling fully stable. He couldn’t stop shivering and sneezing, soaked to the bone with rain. There wasn’t any warm place to stay, not to mention it was dangerous to sleep on the streets. He had his wallet but he didn’t come across any place to sleep that he could afford.

To his surprise, Seongwoo was still awake when he snuck inside. Minhyun was gone and the place was dark except for the light from the living room TV. He’d been absently staring at the news curled up on the sofa, biting his fingers, calling Daniel’s phone several times though it always went to the answering machine. It was still held loosely in his hand as if he’d just finished calling again.

The elder faintly recalled it buzzing several times but hadn’t considered talking to anyone in this state. Part of him felt guilty seeing how much of his fingernails he’d bitten off. How his skin became embedded with wrinkles from frowning. He must have made Seongwoo worry and he’d stayed up all night waiting for him to come home or contact him. He hadn’t even showered, ate dinner, or changed it would appear.

“Where have you been? Are you alright? You’re soaking wet. Why did you go out without an umbrella? You didn’t go into some café even to get out of the rain? How long were you out there to get drenched like this?”

As soon as he noticed Daniel was there and not a figment of his imagination as continuously occurred, Seongwoo jumped up and franticly skipped to his side. He was concerned and horrified at how Daniel looked like he’d just come out of a swimming pool, dripping a puddle of water on the floor.

Daniel answered with a tight, forced, rather uncomfortable smile, “I was just walking around. Good exercise. I like being hit by the rain.”

“Yeah, but obviously your body doesn’t agree. You must have caught a cold. Go take a warm shower and get into something dry. I’ll get you medicine and tea. Come on, I’ll help you. Your leg seems to have gotten worse. So, why’d you walk around all night? I told you it would only take twenty minutes. He was gone and I’ve been calling you for hours now.”

“Sorry. I guess I was enjoying myself I lost track of time….”

He muttered and sniffled after a sneezing fit. He reluctantly leaned against Seongwoo once the nagging and sneezes stopped, feeling weak and having a hard time walking to the bathroom. His head was splitting after the sneezes, his nose stuffed, his legs lacking strength and becoming wobbly as if he’d run thirty kilometers with weights wrapped around his ankles. He was also so incredibly cold, shaking like a leaf.

“What about Minhyun? Did you finish talking? Did it go well?”

“He left hours ago, like I said. Sure, it went well. I made sure of that. He’s not going to be coming back here. I got him to see reason. He’ll leave me alone and not try to dictate my life anymore.”

_And so how did the conclusion go? What did you decide about your relationship? How’d you respond to his feelings? Are you sure that you don’t like him that way? When he’s handsome, rich, and seriously cares for you?_

_You must have been swayed when he suddenly confessed, even breaking out of the comic world to look for you. He’s that competent, brave, forward, and attractive. Plus, you clearly care for him, not to mention you’ve been together your whole life. Of course, that’s to be expected. You looked so good together on the couch when I wasn’t around, so sweet and comfortable. As if you belonged together, the most compatible pair._

_I nearly lost my mind with jealousy there, but somehow I can’t seem to shove myself between you this time around. After all, isn’t that where the story was going? Everyone wants you guys to be together like that. He’s more suitable for you in all ways, isn’t he? Like he said, I can’t provide for you and I don’t know you as well and we don’t have such a long history. I’m a loser nobody compared to him. I can’t even tell you how I feel._

_You’re a character and I’m the human artist that designed you. From the beginning, we were destined to exist in different worlds and that isn’t easily changed. Maybe after you’re here for awhile, then it might not wish to stay forever. You might change your mind and realize that’s where you belong, with him in that sort of luxurious, comfortable, easy lifestyle that I can’t hope to have in this lifetime realistically. I chose the wrong profession._

Daniel was scared to bring up this topic. He didn’t have the energy to even attempt it. He remained silent, letting Seongwoo care for him, secretly relishing in those affectionate, warm touches that seemed so bittersweet now. He kept imagining those two together, replaying the intimate scenes he’d secretly seen when he’d snuck back in to make sure that Seongwoo wasn’t in any dangerous situation just in case he couldn’t hear something through the thick door.

Curiosity had gotten the better of him and he’d immensely regretted it. Because now he couldn’t trust Seongwoo fully and he had all sorts of crazy thoughts. Like that maybe Seongwoo planned on two timing them so he’d have the best of both worlds. Maybe he was simply using him for a place to stay when he came here, for security within his freedoms.

The more he irrationally imagined, the angrier, more hurt, and more jealous that he became. All on his own. He was relieved when Seongwoo let him to wash up by himself, although he felt guilty for snapping at him. He simply wanted to be alone for the time being. He was feeling sick and he’d never been this ridiculously moody. At this rate, he might say something insensitive or lash out at Seongwoo which would make him feel like a total monster.

Seongwoo needed to be given space to make a decision between the two men and the two different lifestyle courses. He needed to respect that choice as well. It made more sense for Seongwoo to be with Minhyun and live permanently in their world. It would be less headache and heartache for him as well. Although he couldn’t bring himself to wish for it to happen. He could feel himself becoming devastated and grieving the loss of his crush at the mere thought of the worst-case scenario.

Seongwoo had attempted to discuss about what happened with Minhyun after Daniel absently asked, but Daniel cut him off in the middle of it because he was a coward not ready to hear bad news if there were any. Such as that he’d let Minhyun kiss him and he’d sort of liked it. He needed some more time to prepare his heart so it wouldn’t shatter, or at least not so obviously which would make Seongwoo feel guilty and hesitate. In that case, he wanted to end their ambiguous relationship peacefully without any drama or hard feelings, without seeming lame.

After giving him tea and medicine, Seongwoo reluctantly let him be, sleeping on the couch instead of the bedroom so he could have a more peaceful sleep. He told Daniel to call or send a message if he needed anything or was feeling worse, promising that he’d stay in that world and take care of him until he was better. Daniel became drowsy but since he was aching and full of regret about his choice not to hear Seongwoo out and various others, he struggled to fall asleep.

_At least he’s not going back there to Minhyun yet. He promised not to leave me alone while I’m sick. I hope then that maybe this sickness will not get better overnight. Even if I’m feeling weird, it’s better having him around then not…_

_Should I exaggerate or fake it so that he doesn’t go back there? What if Minhyun turns on charms and does all these romantic surprises to woo him over? Ah, I hate this. Why does that guy have to be in love with Seongwoo too? Why does he have to be so annoyingly attractive, smooth talking, disgustingly rich and seem like a perfect, complimentary match for him, even be taller than me? Dammit, damn every hair in Hwang Minhyun to the fiery pits of hell. I HATE HIM._

_For once, I really hate being right. Stupid overactive imagination, stop torturing me. It’s not a sure thing that the feeling is mutual. Stop assuming the worst. Stop thinking they kissed when you were gone. Seongwoo can’t like him back, God, please don’t allow that, have him like me more…_

He tossed and turned, groaning and grumbling as his dreams were full of romantic, intimate scenes of the comic versions of Minhyun and Seongwoo acting like a couple. True nightmares that tore his heart to shreds.

“Hmm…hot…ow, my throat…my head too, ugh…hurts…”

“Oh, did I wake you? You’re burning up with a fever, so I’m washing you to get it down. Stay still, hyung. Moving around will make it worse. Today you should rest in bed all day. I’ll nurse you. Now that you’re awake you can take some medicine and water.”

When Daniel woke up groaning in pain, Seongwoo was at his side, gently wiping his forehead with a wet, rolled up towel. On the table beside the bed there was a glass bowl filled with cold water, a glass of drinkable water, a bowl of porridge and some pills. The artist was feeling too miserable to reject being babied. Seongwoo set the towel in his lap, reaching for the glass and the pills. He fed and helped him drink, holding his head up carefully.

“How long was I out for?” he whispered hoarsely, sounding like death incarnate.

“A couple hours now. You’ll feel better soon after the medicine kicks in and you eat something. Don’t try to talk too much. Your throat sounds like it hurts.”

As his nurse firmly ordered, the dreadfully sick artist closed his mouth and remained still. Seongwoo pulled the blankets down and returned to cooling his body down, wiping his neck, ears, cheeks, and then his arms. The coolness made the uncomfortable temperature of his body drop gradually, allowing him to feel more at ease. He closed his eyes and relaxed. He was drifting off from the gentle, cool touches on his stomach several minutes later. It was relieving and soothing.

“Don’t sleep just yet, hyung,” Seongwoo insisted with a soft tone, “It’s time to get some food in your stomach. It’s grumbling like a bear. I have a feeling you didn’t stop by a restaurant last night. That means that you haven’t eaten anything since lunch yesterday, which was fourteen hours ago.”

As if to protest, his stomach growled furiously. Daniel winced, sitting up as Seongwoo pulled on his arms. “That explains why I have no energy.”

“Of course. You’ve hurt your leg. Bruised and scratched up your face and other places. Caught a cold and starved half to death. I’ve really got my work cut out for me. I should ask for something with this overtime. I’m even skipping school to take care of your irresponsible self.”

“You shouldn’t do that…but I bet you like it. You hate school, after all.”

Seongwoo mysteriously smiled, for the first time that half-irritated, half gravely concerned expression transforming his tired, dark circled baggy eyes into beautiful, twinkling half moons. Daniel’s heart fluttered at the sight of it. It had been worth the struggle to get his heavy eyelids open a second before it occurred. His smiling face was absolutely heavenly, containing more healing powers than any store-bought kinds of medicine.

“I guess taking care of reckless, infuriating patients IS better than lectures and schoolwork. Most days anyway. Lay back, hyung.”

The student propped up a couple pillows so that Daniel could lie in a sitting position. Then he brought over the bowl, hissing and glaring at his hands when Daniel attempted to reach for it in warning.

“Sick puppies should behave before they get locked up. I wouldn’t test my mood right now. I haven’t slept in over twenty-four hours.”

Daniel chuckled, letting his hands drop. He nodded and then opened his mouth cutely. Seongwoo mixed the porridge, scooped a spoonful, blew on it and then carefully dived it into his mouth. Daniel wasn’t certain if it was because it was his first meal in over half a day or Seongwoo had leveled up in his cooking skills, but it was the most delicious meal he’d ever had. He couldn’t help but moan and wiggle in pleasure, his curling toes shifting the blanket.

Seongwoo’s next flashing smile was like a smug, prideful kitten who just untangled itself from a mess of string all on its own.

“It’s good, right? I was surprised myself. I guess I found the best recipe. It’s from a famous blogger that used to work as a chef in five-star hotels.”

“Well, I give your version ten stars.”

The assistant responded dryly with an arched, artfully groomed brow twitching with attitude. “Those are fingers. And didn’t I tell you not to move? I guess you can survive on just one spoonful of food…”

Daniel whimpered as Seongwoo sassily threatened to eat the food and take the bowl away. He turned the biggest, most pitiful sad puppy eyes on him, lightly massaging his slack-covered thigh. “Hey, forgive me and gimme the good stuff, don’t steal from your vvip patient~”

Seongwoo eased up, back to smiling all pure and fluffy.

“Just kidding. But still, behave. It’s for your own sake, not just mine. You’ve been through a rough day. You need to recover as quickly as possible and get back to work. Otherwise you’ll have to delay your chapter to next week.”

That made Daniel behave instantly. The thought of how upset Suzy would be if that happened was more terrifying than going into a haunted house even, which he’d been avoiding a second occurrence his entire life. He froze like a statue made of ice, only his mouth dropping open for more food.

“Good boy~ Aigoo, you’re so cute! With you’re mouth dropped like that, you’re just like the nut-cracker~ Hahaha, freaking cute.”

Daniel narrowed his eyes at how Seongwoo was abusing his power by obnoxiously using a word that he disliked, twice even – the audacity of this brat! In a condescending tone no less, clearly mocking him for needing to be nursed. He chewed and swallowed while Seongwoo waited with the next spoonful hovering nearby, grinning cheekily and poking at the extra bit of fluff on his face.

“Seongwoo…I can wash myself…” Daniel groaned, while Seongwoo pushed on his shirtless back with his elbows in an attempt to barge into the bathroom.

“Like you tried yesterday, right. You slipped and got bruised.”

“I just dozed off, that’s why. I’m not that sleepy now.”

“Which is exactly what I’m worried about happening again, since you can fall asleep after closing your eyes for ten seconds. Now, drop those pants and sit down on the stool.”

“It’s embarrassing though. I’m feeling shy.”

Seongwoo splashed his feet with water. “Whatever. I don’t believe that. Who was it going around nearly naked the other day? You seemed comfortable, even proud of your body. Show off. You said we’re just guys, remember? Then, it shouldn’t matter.”

“That was then. This is now…” The blonde grumbled with a plump pout, his face flaming as if he were high with fever.

“Be like your favorite Nike shoes and just do it!” the younger barked with undisguised annoyance, shoving him roughly forward into the bathroom.

His hands that had been holding on to the door jam and resisting letting the younger in slipped, causing him to topple in and almost crash into the sink.

Seongwoo would be concerned but he’d just checked and it had significantly decreased. He figured that Daniel was embarrassed about having someone shower him, but he wasn’t planning on thinking much of it. He had to keep the track of his mind on ‘I’m simply washing a patient, he’s like a helpless child, nothing but pure thoughts or you’ll go straight to hell, just don’t look at anything past the hair on his head.’

It wasn’t easy for him to do this, just as it hadn’t been an easy task to lift his shirt and rub a wet rag over his white chocolate abs several times since yesterday. He was on his last nerve struggling with his sinful desires and guilty conscience. It needed to be done and that was a solid fact. Daniel was genuinely sick and they weren’t exactly on good terms because they needed to clear up about things with Minhyun. Daniel avoided talking about him and Seongwoo had no choice but to put it on a back burner with Daniel being ill, but of course he was concerned and hoping they could clear up the air soon as he suspected Daniel was thinking foolish things and doubting how amazing he was as per usual.

Blushing furiously, Daniel dropped his pants. “Can I at least keep the boxers on?”

His eyes popped wide open and he swallowed thickly as he saw Seongwoo in the middle of removing his shirt. He almost cursed, realizing that Seongwoo was going to be washing him without clothes on too.

_Shit, this is NOT a good idea. Spare my sanity would you, you reckless, thoughtless brat! Don’t you know how crazy your body makes me and how I’ve been deprived of physical intimacy for ages? Are you actually an evil teasing devilish seductress underneath that angelic face, huh?!_

“Er, why are you stripping too?”

Seongwoo tossed his shirt out, then gave him a sassy look, smirking with amusement to see Daniel holding his hands over the front of his boxers and seeming so small, shy, and cute then.

“Because that means less laundry. Keep your panties on, if you’re THAT MUCH of a bashful little baby boy. I’m not going to look down there though, if that’s what you’re worried about. The water’s warm and I’m not going to be judging how manly you are based on size alone.”

Daniel flushed deeper, inhaling a gasp, “That’s NOT what I was thinking about! Who taught a teenager those sorts of things, really?! Is this Minhyun’s influence? I should there and punch him harder so that he will start acting his age and not teach you inappropriate things!”

Seongwoo chuckled, shrugging on his way to the faucet. “I learned that in middle school though. The guys were talking about it while we showered. Times change, people talk about and learn things and also experiment much younger than your generation. You’re such a geezer, hyung.”

“How can you be so mean to an invalid? I got sick because you kicked me out of the apartment you know. Ah, it’s cold!” The elder shouted and ran to the farthest corner of the bathroom to avoid the chilly stream of water Seongwoo had just shot at his feet.

The younger laughed evilly, chasing him at the same time turning the temperature slightly up. Daniel curled up against the wall, whimpering and glaring at the mischievous student having way too much fun torturing him with the still chilly water on his legs.

“You’re the one who decided to run around without an umbrella all night and not even take shelter somewhere. Really, you are such an overgrown child with no common sense. You’re so dense that it’s frustrating too. Pabo hyung.”

“Take that back, I’m not stupid! What did I ever do to deserve this rudeness? Nothing but house and feed you!” Daniel complained in offense.

Seongwoo narrowed his eyes, then turned the faucet to freezing cold in one smooth, decicive move. “Really now? If you’re still asking that, then you’re a TOTAL PABO. That actually pisses me off, so I think I’ve got to punish you a bit.”

“Yah, yah, yah! Wait! Wah, shit, Seongwoo, stop it, please, it’s so cold!” Daniel squealed while dancing on his still limping leg, attempting to avoid the icy waves attacking his feet.

Ten minutes later, the steamiest, most awkward moment they’d ever faced was in full swing. Seongwoo was standing in the shower area while Daniel was sitting on a low, plastic stool, the house on the floor nearby. They were both only in boxers, planning to wring it and discard it in the laundry machine once they got soaking wet.

Daniel was forced to allow Seongwoo to enter the bathroom with him but he absolutely drew the line at removing his boxers, feeling too self-conscious and not trusting Seongwoo’s statement that he wouldn’t look down there. Seongwoo had finished washing the shampoo out of his hair and was now lathering the body wash in his palms to create foam. That was all that Daniel could hear, but it was enough to set him dangerously on edge.

Just seeing flashes of his bare chest and arms, feeling those long, gentle fingers tangled in his hair and pressing circles to his scalp was arousing enough. He had his thighs clamped together, toes curling into the damp tiles, his teeth gritted and jaw locked, his eyes closed and his hands folded over and pressing down on his lap, his erection luckily pointing downward and only half-formed at the moment so he wouldn’t get found out.

He was attempting meditation, imagining he was at some specialty salon with an old lady hairdresser behind him, not his mostly naked, young, gorgeous assistant. This only worked up to a certain point. He forgot the words for the traditional prayer as the faint rubbing sounds came nearer, his vivid mind wandering against his will to what was going to come next.

Those lovely, smooth, gentle hands were soon going to be stroking and lathering his body, sliding all over. He knew he was going to fantasize, get harder, and likely slip out a moan. He was already breathing unevenly and his skin was tingling with anticipation. Sensing the hands were coming, he gulped hard, swallowing down panic, begging his inner fanboy to be calm and his perverted side to take a hike to China for the next ten minutes at least.

He sharply inhaled and bit hard on his lip at the first contact of hands to shoulders. Seongwoo slowly slid his foamed hands along the curve from his neck, over his shoulders, down to his elbows and back several times, lightly squeezing his muscles as he went. It wasn’t meant to be seductive, the elder was sure, but it sure as hell was. Insanely so. Those silky, warm hands moved so careful and light that it felt ridiculously good, more like a sensual caress from a lover during foreplay than anything. When he moved to stroke down his chest, his slender, shapely, snowy arms and dainty, beautiful hands on full view running over his damp, bare flesh, Daniel was sure he was going to lose his mind. He held his breath and grew tense like a pressed down spring, forcing his eyes on the wall, counting how many cracks he could find in the tiles. Anything to distract himself and avoid humiliation.

He’d just about managed to get through the agony of Seongwoo lathering his chest and back when Seongwoo pressed close to wash his unexplored stomach next. He had to wrap his arms around his waist, their heads pressing cheek to cheek, chest to back slightly so he could see properly. They were in a slippery sort of back hug, his hands slowly circling over tensed, responsive abs.

Something strange happened when Daniel released a shaky, moaning breath while staring at those mesmerizing, slowly rotating, suds-dripping hands. Seongwoo pressed his logn, thin, pretty fingers in deeper, starting to curiously feel out each bump and crevice of his abs, purposefully making the hills twitch and ripple like a dance as Daniel tensed out of nerves. The younger’s hot breath was as shaky and uneven nearby Daniel’s ear as his own. If Daniel gasped or moaned when some stroke or scratch of those hypnotic, snowy, exploring fingers occurred, in response a very faint similar sound followed from the younger.

Like this, through the shower experience, they temporarily got lost in the forbidden, intimate lovers fantasy moment, subtly seducing and exciting each other with contact and sounds. Daniel forgot to keep his hand properly over his lap, causing a very much visible tent to sprout in his briefs. Seongwoo licked and chewed his lip as he glanced at their demanding visitor from time to time, appreciating the size and monstrous thickness without being hidden by constricting jeans which hadn’t done the fine specimen justice apparently. He strategically stayed bent in a way that Daniel wouldn’t have any idea that he’d been rock hard as soon as he’d touched his shoulders. The soft, erotic, nervous sounds they made when they failed to suppress how they felt were mind-blowing and unforgettable. 

“Hyung, you can’t sleep yet. You need to take your medicine and a cup of water at least. Hyung, wake up!”

The assistnat called, nagged, and gently shook the artist for ten minutes straight until Daniel became annoyed. He was still half-asleep, drifting in and out of his dream world. Seongwoo had gone to the store to buy some more rice for porridge before it closed, giving Daniel a mission to dry his hair and get into his pajamas. He’d only managed to wear the bottoms and dry half of his hair before he felt like he might tip over from drowsiness. Seongwoo caught him after he’d plopped onto his cozy bed, eyes already closed and entering dream world a couple of minutes.

“So noisy. I’ll give you something better to do with that pretty mouth. Let’s continue what we were doing instead…”

All that was on Daniel’s foggy mind when he creaked his eyes open to see Seongwoo hovering over him with his button-up shirt precariously dangling open and flashing that milky skin was that he wanted him to be quiet. He wanted to continue doing what he was doing with the Seongwoo in his realistic dreams, involving a heavy make-out, groping session in their bed.

He pulled a stunned, adorable, prettier than normal Seongwoo down by the neck and waist, planting kisses on his lips, jawline, neck and collar, gradually becoming more passionate and aggressive, his hands sliding under his shirt. Seongwoo squirmed and pushed on his chest but failed at disconnecting. Daniel had him ensnared in a crushing embrace, his mind unable to function while getting intimately marked. He was blushing furiously, tingling from head to toe with a delicious shock of adrenaline.

“Neh? Hyung. Wake up, hyung, get a hold of yourself. Jesus, hmm. What exactly were we doing in your dreams? Ah, not there, ah, hmm, hyung… Yah, this perv--! Seriously--! Hey, stop it, you’re still si--!”

Seongwoo’s high-pitched, shaky scolding was constantly blocked by Daniel diving to plant a firm kiss on his moving bow-shaped lips. Then, once he was silenced and still from sheer shock, he’d return to sucking his long neck, making the younger moan, gasp, shiver, and clutch his shirt when he meant to be pushing away.

“Seongwoo-yah. I want more of you. Now.”

Daniel had flipped Seongwoo on to his back and laid over his lithe, long body, his hand tugging up his shirt so their warm, bare skin brushed together. Seongwoo’s breath hitched as he sharply inhaled, his body set on fire at the sensitive contact, smooth, hot skin-on-skin buzzing and tingling excitedly.

He stared directly up at Daniel hovering close in disbelief and anticipation. The elder’s charming, angular, hazel eyes were misty and dark, as if he wasn’t fully conscious and taken over by an intense rush of lust from the smut demons possessing, tampering with his mind. He certainly wasn’t thinking clearly and soon Seongwoo figured he wouldn’t be able to either, not after the things that he’d seen and felt lately.

Although he knew that Daniel was probably dreaming, he was enjoying this intense, sinful moment already and desperately wanting to take advantage of it since it was rare to see Daniel with his guard fully down. He’d obviously never been touched or kissed like this and it was fantastic, even better than his fantasies. His inner smut demons were whispering and poking his brain. He opened his mouth to say something but Daniel sensed a refusal was coming which he wanted to hear none of and then crashed their parted lips together, diving his hot, silky tongue deep into the unblocked cavern. Seongwoo jerked and moaned, sensations swarming his brain, his body feeling like someone was holding sparklers to every inch, torturing and heating him. There was an intense ache in his stomach and loins, like something was on fire and twisting inside. He was much too conscious of Daniel’s large, fully erect penis pressing into his hip, just an inch away from his rapidly swelling one. The need for friction was incessant, even painful.

Daniel held the younger’s slender wrists above his head as he swirled his tongue deep inside, encouraging Seongwoo to join the tango, then to move faster and wilder. His other hand slipped to cup his slim waist right under his ribs. He lightly caressed, circled, and dragged his finger nails up and down the path from ribs to hip underneath his shirt, making Seongwoo shiver, shift, and groan wantonly. The feel of Daniel’s large, smooth hands lovingly caressing his sensitive skin was wonderful, so arousing as well.

Their skin became feverish and sweaty simply from the brushing and kissing. Their pants uncomfortably tight. Their feet and fingers tensed from the waves of pleasure attacking their shot nerves. Their breath uneven and coming in huffs through their noses which bumped as they abruptly switched angles, passionately making out for who knew how long, getting more exciting by the minute. They couldn’t get enough of each other after so long of holding back and only imagining what it would be like, causing their lips to swell and bruise as they bit and sucked eagerly all over between their fierce tongue battling.

Daniel’s warm, smooth hands gradually explored the center of his flat, smooth chest just as Seongwoo had mischievously dared torture him earlier, going farther in his revenge by experimenting with if men liked their nipples played with as well. It worked that way in porn, but the actors weren’t always being truthful so he wasn’t sure there but he wanted to please and excite the younger since he might never have felt what this was like.

Seongwoo at least happened to, a lot. It made him wiggle and arch up off the bed with one small stroke, crying sharply in surprised delight against his damp mouth, so focused on his carefully twisting, lightly pinching fingers that he couldn’t kiss properly. Daniel lapped at his slackened thin lips, drinking in the lovely pleasure sounds, licking his sweet, soft skin like he were soft-serve vanilla ice cream on the hottest day of the year, observing his flushed, blissful face through dark, hooded, smug eyes.

At some point, Daniel realized that he wasn’t sleeping anymore. This was no mere realistic, carried away dream. This was the real Seongwoo and he was honestly allowing him for some reason to molest him erotically in his half-asleep state. Although he knew he was now awake, Daniel couldn’t seem to stop himself though.

He simply couldn’t think rationally when he recalled all the chaotic, negative things that had been going on in his mind since yesterday, all of his insecurities and fears. Hearing Seongwoo moan from his touch and kiss. Seeing him shivering and melting under his shifting fingers. His pretty face flushed and his eyes hazy with lust and pleasure. Having him kiss with fervor back. Feeling that shapely, silky body begging for more contact, quivering with excitement at a simple brush of his fingertip.

That wiped his earlier doubts and insecurities away like a board over chalk. It was a relief and he enjoyed it – this confirmation that he needed, that Seongwoo liked him back, that he was attracted to him, that what they had was special and Minhyun couldn’t even dream of something intense and intimate like this. At least he knew now for sure that Seongwoo was indeed very much attracted to him and wouldn’t deny doing something physical if he initiated beyond a peck. There was something deeper there too in their passionate, messy kisses. He thought he felt that. Unless it was his delusions from liking the younger too much.

_If you ever kissed Minhyun, if you ever wavered in his directions after his confession, then please forget all about it right now, Seongwoo-yah. Let my every kiss and touch wipe all traces of that from existence. I want you to only think of, only like, only kiss, and only be attracted to me and me alone. My precious Seongwoo, you’re the loveliest, I want you to be my man, I’m going crazy with the urge to make you mine right now._

_You seem so willing, so deliciously responsive, do you know that, baby? Should I just take advantage of how swept up in the moment you are now and make it that way? Would you object to me taking you? To being your first? Would it be so wrong of me to give you want you seem to want so desperately? To make sure you can’t easily leave me when you have second-thoughts about staying with a commoner? To brutally consume every bit of you and make it so you never could want any other because they can’t compare? At least I’m sure I can fuck better than someone prissy and neat like him._

Daniel was in the midst of an internal battle. While doing so, the inferno inside cooled and his kisses became sweeter and slower. His reasonable side and the part of him that truly adored and cared for Seongwoo as a person won over. Seongwoo whimpered, raising his head up to meet his lips with each gentle press, encouraging him to kiss firmer and deeper, tempting him with his flicking, delicious little tongue but in a hesitant, clumsy sort of way. It didn’t seem that he wanted to part and in his own clumsy way, the virgin teenager was attempting to seduce the experienced adult.

That’s when Daniel realized he was doing something terribly wrong here and needed to stop before he lost control of his inner beast. Seongwoo was a completely inexperienced, innocent youth he had sworn to protect and respect. He shouldn’t be moving this fast without even having been official with him, no matter their honest feelings.

He flipped to his side, bringing Seongwoo with him, holding him tenderly and pressing light, playful kisses on his swollen lips because he couldn’t quite resist fully separating yet.

Seongwoo pouted, gazing at the fully conscious blonde with disappointed, starry eyes.

“You’re stopping already? Wae~”

Daniel ducked down, pressing his head to his unbuttoned collar and sincerely apologizing with a whiney tone.

“Sorry. Shit. I’m really sorry, Seongwoo. I was dreaming and got carried away. You should be careful tempting an adult man. You should have told me to stop as soon as I latched on to you. Slap me hard until I fully woke up and screamed that I’m a pervert and you’re going to call the cops on me or something.

I had no intentions of doing this to you. I shouldn’t have even kissed you without permission after confirming your feelings. Jesus, you’re just eighteen and a total innocent. Things shouldn’t be that way even though I’m attracted to you and you weren’t objecting.

I’m so sorry that I took advantage of you getting caught up in the moment. I should have stopped much earlier. Why didn’t you yell at me or push me off? I could have stolen your precious first time like an insensitive beast. I could have hurt you and scarred your memories.”

Seongwoo was quiet for a moment, then pecked the top of his head, lightly scratching along his neckline, oddly calm for someone who had nearly been raped. “I didn’t want you to stop, hyung. I wanted everything you just did and more. That’s why I didn’t say anything.”

Daniel chuckled, tucking his flaming face into Seongwoo’s smooth neck further. He caressed his silky back and nuzzled, taking deep breaths to calm his urges and gain control of his libido. “You’re just a kid. I won’t take your virginity.”

“Why not? I’m eighteen, in your world I’m technically nearing twenty! That’s plenty old enough to have sex. Lots of people do it by then. It doesn’t necessarily need to be with someone my age that I’ve dated a long time when I’m twenty years old either in some romantic hotel room. That’s so old fashioned.”

“I don’t think it’s right though, Seongwoo-yah. At least you should do it with someone you like that you call your boyfriend. Preferably, someone your age after graduation. I’d feel like a cradle robber popping a high school student’s cherry. I’m in the later half of my twenties here, Seognwoo-yah, I’m kind of old.”

Seongwoo let out an annoyed huff, rapping his knuckle on his shoulder blade. “Then, well. Not much I can do about our little bit of an age difference. About the other thing you’re concerned about…Why don’t you make me your boyfriend? Instead of just a student you think is hot, I’ll be the student-boyfriend you think is hot. Then we can do it every day.”

Daniel groaned, his body violently twitching awake in response to that idea, torturing him half mad. He pecked the tempting, milky skin in front of his mouth, tempted to bite the thick vein and get the younger’s blood boiling as much as his own suddenly was.

“Hey, now. Don’t play with an old man’s heart like that. That’s not something you joke about or talk lightly, you reckless, mean brat. Think carefully about your future. Including when and who you have sex with. Don’t just do it based on spur of the moment hormone attacks.

You can only have your first time once. It’s special and it should be romantic and at the right time after proper preparation from both parties. Don’t just call anyone you enjoy kissing as your boyfriend simply to throw away your purity one hot night when you’re in the mood. You deserve better than that. It’s going to be something you remember forever, you don’t want to look back with regrets.”

“Hmm. You really think I wouldn’t have thought about it, hyung? That I’m not prepared? That I would have regrets? I might be young but I’m not immature. I won’t just do it with anyone I think is hot, though spur of the moment when I’m in the mood seems the best way instead of nervous from over-prepping. Of course, I would want there to be feelings and something official involved. That would be much better, especially if it’s mutual. Well, with us, I think…I honestly, well, about you…”

“Honestly what? What about me?” Daniel hummed sleepily.

Seongwoo was right about him getting sleepy after closing his eyes for just ten seconds. It had been much longer than that and he was losing the battle with his more innocent sort of instincts.

“Um…Actually, no, it’s….nothing…”

Daniel wanted to bother him to finish the rest of that sentence he shyly avoided answering. However, he was feeling drowsy even though he hadn’t taken the medicine. Not enough sleep recently and too much sudden activity for his worn-out, sickly body to handle, he supposed.

The artist sighed with content, squeezing the assistant closer. “So comfortable here. I’m drifting off. I’ll take the medicine later. Sorry to keep inconveniencing you, but…can I keep holding you? It’s relaxing and warm…”

“Sure…”

Daniel fell asleep with his nose buried in Seongwoo’s faintly marked neck, his head being cradled tenderly by the other. As he brushed the wavy golden locks, Seongwoo listened to the sounds of Daniel’s even breathing, replaying their miraculous steamy moment with a silly grin on his face, slightly regretting that he had chickened out just before confessing his feelings.

_It’s probably too soon. Not the right timing. He’s not feeling well. He’s half asleep. He wouldn’t comprehend or remember it fully. I didn’t have a chance yet to fully clear things up with or about Minhyun. Somehow, it doesn’t feel right to confess and ask him date me when I’m not fully single and we haven’t cleared up whatever he’s misunderstanding about Minhyun and me._

_Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll first break the engagement officially and make sure that Daniel is fully healthy. Then, I’ll think of the perfect way to tell him my feelings directly, since he is seriously terrible at piecing things together on his own. Something more romantic than just in bed impulsively acting on our desires since it seems he doesn’t like that kind of thing, my sweet romantic, sensitive hyung. It’s going to be my first relationship, after all, so maybe he’s got a point there. I better do it right from the beginning. He seems like such a romantic person unlike myself; I bet he’d blush like a tomato._

“You came back to the better world, huh? I thought you hated it here. Weren’t you sick of me and asking me to stay out of your life? Did you miss school that much that you’re here for your missing assignments? I’m thrown off by the sudden visit.”

Minhyun’s expression showed mixed reactions to Seongwoo appearing at his doorstep. The other was obviously feeling awkward since they hadn’t talked even by message since the day that he’d broken Minhyun’s heart. He bowed his head in greeting, saying simple and calm.

“Good evening.”

Minhyun’s smirk was tainted with bitterness, not the least bit his usual friendly, playful, sweet self that Seongwoo was used to facing. “It’s an evening but even though an extra moon has appeared, I wouldn’t exactly use ‘good’ to define it. Judging by that serious look, I presume this isn’t a pleasure visit but sheer cutthroat business. Is there something you needed to discuss, Ongs?”

“With your parents actually. I wanted to officially clear things up…about our relationship…” Seongwoo muttered after some hesitation, unsure how to put it nicely, his eyes on their feet, feeling uncomfortable and hesitant now that he was faced with his moody friend. He knew that Minhyun was recovering from being rejected and needed more time alone, but, just like a festering wound needed alcohol in order to heal without getting infected, he felt it was right to go all the way through with their separation, not letting loose ends dangle.

He’d learned his lesson previously. He didn’t want to bring this up to hurt him again in the future when he was almost healed. He also didn’t want to leave loose ends. For both of them and for Daniel it wasn’t a good idea. Things could get uglier if left open for misunderstandings or false hopes to re-occur. He was being brave and responsible, here to do the thing he should have done years ago. Brutal as it would be, as much as he didn’t want to, he was going to have to stab Minhyun’s scabbed over heart once more in the same place and disinfect it. For everyone’s own good and the betterment of their futures.

“It’s my fault for letting this go on, so long. I’m sorry that things have to be this way and I will take all of the blame from your parents if they don’t take the news well. I will explain that it’s got nothing to do with you. It was all me and my decision. I’ll take all the responsibility for the fall-out.”

Minhyun sighed heavily, opening the door wider and gesturing for him to come in.

“If you’re so set and determined to create angsty drama, be my guest then. Like I’ve ever been able to stop you when you set your mind to something. You’re the most stubborn person in all worlds, even when you know it’s not going to turn out prettily. It’s cold out. Get in before you catch a cold, Ongcheongie. You might be well there, but here you’re still sick and it’s risky. Why did you dress so lightly? Aigoo, seriously, this foolish baby boy. Here, take my cardigan. Keep it, in fact. I don’t really like this one anyway.”

Seongwoo allowed him to put on the fancy tan knit on because he was feeling chilly with the wind on top of the night air but slid out from under his hands when they lingered on his shoulders. He wouldn’t allow Minhyun to steal intimate moments like before, even as a joke. He felt wracked with guilt by allowing physical affection to occur, thinking of the consequences and rifts that could occur between him and Minhyun as well as him and Daniel. The taller man turned sulky, his eyes full of disguised pain as it dawned on him that things with his friend would never be as they were before since he was finally drawing a clear, polite line.

“Hey, I’m not going to jump you. I’m not a starving tiger. I remember and respect what you said. I’m working hard here to be just a normal friend and clear up my feelings. You don’t need to wound me worse by treating me like a criminal for simply touching you. I had no special intentions.”

“Sorry, I overreacted by instinct…” Seongwoo muttered, holding the sweater over his shoulders and bowing his head with a sheepish, awkward smile. “I guess I need some more time too. I reacted thoughtlessly and hurt you again unnecessarily. Excuse me.”

Minhyun scratched his head, clearly uncomfortable all the more with Seongwoo speaking to him in an extremely formal, polite tone. “Okay, I understand. It might take some time to get over this extreme awkwardness. Hopefully, you’ll be able to act normal around me in a couple weeks. After you break off the engagement. We were just about done with dinner. You’re always welcome to join us, you’re like family, you know that.”

Minhyun paused in the hallway, turning around and forcing Seongwoo to stop. Seongwoo judged by his expression that he had one last thing to say. He stared straight at him, waiting patiently, nonverbally expression that it was alright for him to say whatever was on his mind.

“That guy…He resembles Seonho a lot more than I thought before. Are you sure that this isn’t a temporary feeling from nostalgia? Are you sure you really like that guy?”

Seongwoo confessed with confidence, “I like Daniel for himself and only that reason. To me, they aren’t that similar at all, after getting to know them. The reason I like Daniel is more his personality than good looks. Once you get to know him, you see he’s sweet but also dumb. It’s endearing. He’s the dumbest, most helpless adult I’ve ever seen, but that makes me want to take care of him. It makes me worry and want to be by his side in case he gets reckless and needs someone.

These are things I’ve never felt before, understand. For anyone. Even my family, even yourself. I want to explore and cherish these new feelings. I think it’s genuine ‘love’. There’s something about the way it makes me feel so full, complete, and warm.”

Minhyun reached for his wrist, circling the smoothest part where the skin was thin over his veins. He grumbled low and bitter, “I hate to sound like a broken record, but we’re perfect and I can care for you better.”

Seongwoo smiled crookedly. “Believe me, I know and understand that well. You’ve spent your youth proving that you care for me well. However, the me now is not the person that you have grown up with, so we don’t match as perfectly as you think. I’ve changed through my awakening and experiences the last several months. I’m quite different from before, not much like you at all. Not in a good way or bad way, simply different.

Right now, the person who understands the current me after I’ve gone through my awakening is Daniel. Only he can care for me the way that I need. Somehow, this different version of me doesn’t want to always be cared for and spoiled like I’ve always been. I don’t want a comfortable, luxurious, planned out life being protected and pampered.

Rather, I want to care for someone. I like someone who needs me. But you aren’t like that. You don’t need anyone, not even me. You’re competent, reliable, strong, confident, and perfect in every way. You’re mature and independent and cautious. You hardly even know how to ask for help because you’re so intelligent and thorough with your plans that you never needed it. This is probably one of the reasons that I never ended up developing feelings for you, despite all the time we’ve spent together, how incredibly good you’ve treated me. Because you don’t need me unconditionally in your life the way that Daniel does. You can and will survive just fine without me. You’ll see.”

After a long pause, Minhyun nodded and faintly smiled in acknowledgement. “Maybe you’re right on some points there. You’ll still be my friend?”

“I’ll try to be, if you want it. Someday. When I trust that you’re over me fully.”

“Alright, your word to try someday is good enough. I might not need you desperately as you say but for sure my life is more enjoyable and colorful with you in it. I’d like to keep you around as a friend. Once some time passes. I wasn’t lying when I said my world just doesn’t feel stabilized without you in it. I’m not going to crumble, but the uneasy feeling is disturbing.”

“Sure. I’d like that too. You made my life a lot of fun, too. Especially my school life and times stuck in the hospital. I’ll never forget those moments where we talked and joked around. I will always appreciate it and hope they will continue in the future. Once you heal, just send me a message. We’ll meet up.”

“Okay, I will. You better not abandon me for that old perv anymore. I know where you live and the things you hate the most. I will get my vengeance this time.”

The mood changed as they teased and poked each other somewhat like they normally would at school.

“Hey, now. Don’t be too mean to my future boyfriend. I’ll admit he’s a little pervy but he’s not a creepy old man yet. He’s just a couple years older than us.”

Minhyun snorted, rolled his eyes, and released his arm. “You better bring back lots of creams then. Because his skin needs major work. I lost count of the wrinkles.”

Seongwoo laughed, imagining Daniel’s snarling face and defensive attacks if he were there to hear that insult. He wondered if those two would ever get along or if he’d be regularly coming between a fist fight, ending up with bruises on his precious skin. His new hope was that soon Minhyun would get over his feelings for him and that those two would come to tolerate each other’s company.

Daniel was in the middle of flipping through his recent chapter for a final review. He’d completed what he’d had planned around an hour ago. The last pages Seongwoo had done in advance before he left to wherever it was that he was gone to for whatever purpose, so he’d only had to finish up the coloring of a couple of panels he hadn’t completed.

He sort of dreaded finishing his task because the distraction was necessary. Once he had no work to do, he’d notice how silent, empty, and cold the house felt with Seongwoo gone. He’d miss him more, get more anxious, probably get irritated about their last conversation. He should have made up with him the night before, then he wouldn’t be feeling so uneasy with Seongwoo’s disappearance. He kept wondering what was going on there and how Seongwoo was feeling after the incident.

“Ugh, why did I do that? I’m such a moron!” he groaned in despair, yanking at his shaggy strands of dusty golden hair.

They hadn’t talked about the steamy moment that happened while he was out of it. Both seemed too awkward to bring it up. They were both blatantly avoiding each other, though they were still living and sleeping together and Seongwoo made sure he was taking medicine and eating properly.

Once he recovered from his cold mostly, Seongwoo told him that he was going to go back to the webtoon world and he couldn’t guarantee when he was going to return. He said he had some things to take care of, but didn’t elaborate. Daniel in a negative, paranoid state figured somehow that he was going to be seeing Minhyun. An angry dragon of jealousy and anxiety sparked up in him that he couldn’t curb in time before it again caused trouble.

He had demanded to know what Seongwoo was going to do there, what was Minhyun to him, if he kept seeing him then it was only going to encourage his feelings, asked him to go a couple of weeks later or promise that he wouldn’t meet Minhyun outside of school. He said things that he knew he shouldn’t have said. He was demanding and accusatory, as if Seongwoo was leaving to have an affair. And it was perfectly reasonable for Seongwoo to become irritated and snap after that.

Daniel was stamping on his freedoms, accusing him of using his friend and other things, and being an oversensitive, controlling, nosy jerk. Seongwoo let loose his bottled up fury, told him as much, that he was childish and needed to mind his own business and he was upset that Daniel didn’t believe or trust whatever he said about Minhyun so maybe he shouldn’t waste his breath attempting to explain since he assumed whatever the most negative thing he was afraid to hear.

They’d gone to bed genuinely angry and ignoring each other after their shouting match. The next morning Seongwoo had left with only a note, explaining he would try to be back soon, hoping that Daniel wouldn’t worry so much while he was gone, and asked him to please simply trust him and wait.

Daniel couldn’t help but overthink despite Seongwoo sounding alright. He wondered if he’d driven Seongwoo off with his kiss attacks before. Or else why had things been so awkward immediately after that? Why would Seongwoo avoid him, stop talking to him, get lost in thought, and run away to the world that he didn’t like much? Why had those two been holding hands and standing close, looking like they were a couple minutes away from kissing that night? Was it possibly true that Seongwoo was wavering to Minhyun after his confession and Daniel had pushed him in that direction by molesting him?

But then, if Seongwoo didn’t like him or want that to happen, why had he allowed him to kiss him so much and not been the least bit upset after? Was it simply that he was swept up in the moment because of his teenage hormones? Was it not that Seongwoo had feelings for him, but that he was being used for experience since he’s older and exceptionally horny for him?

His dreams kept haunting him, some insecure, bitter devil inside of him taunting him that Seongwoo thought he was terrible at sex after their experimental one moment, so he decided to give up on him and return to Minhyun. Minhyun seemed like he might be good at that, the way he’d maneuvered on the couch and held Seongwoo in his attempts to get him to kiss. Plus, he was ridiculously handsome and tall, not to mention filthy rich and passionately in love with him.

The artist hadn’t realized he was biting on his nails nervously until they were stinging and bleeding. He sat on his hand in order to block the nasty habit from occurring, then returned to reviewing.

“Fifty-four pages? I swore I only had fifty a moment ago…”

He flipped the pages backwards in a rush, assuming that something had been added involving whatever Seongwoo was up to in the shadows. Something that must have an important impact on the plot and characters.

The blonde smiled so wide that his lips about jumped off of his face when he saw what was in the recently added pages. Seongwoo was sitting with Minhyun and his parents, apologizing for breaking off their engagement and stating he only thought of Minhyun as a friend this whole time. He said that he had been going along with their parents’ wishes out of his respect for them and obligation but he couldn’t go along with it anymore because there was someone that he was in love with and wanted to pursue a real relationship with someday, so it felt wrong to continue this façade anymore. He said that it was his idea and fully his fault for the break-up, asking they not blame Minhyun or attempt to fix anything because Minhyun was lacking in no particular way that could change his mind.

Minhyun said that he had already agreed and also apologized for not being able to do as they’d wished, not able to win over the heart of the person they wanted to have as their second son officially. His parents were stunned at first but luckily there wasn’t any drama like water flying around or hysterical shouting. They said that they understood and it was a good thing that the kids confessed before it was too late and money became involved making wedding arrangements. They promised that Seongwoo would always be like a son the greatly loved, welcome to come and go anytime, and they thanked him and hoped for him to continue to be Minhyun’s friend.

Daniel was beside himself with giddiness that followed the rush of relief, though he knew it was wrong to feel joy when dreams and hearts were being crushed. Not just of his characters but of the shipper fans. There would be many fangirls crying their eyes out once this chapter came out, probably cursing up a storm at him for weeks for seeming like he was going to make ‘onghwang’ happen and then abandoning it in the end. Obviously, they wanted their beloved characters to be happy but at least it was an amicable break up and they’d agreed to stay in their lives as friends.

It could have been much worse. Seongwoo had handled it well, better than he could have written himself probably. His editor wouldn’t have a fussy fit about their coupling ending this way; she’d probably give him credits for decent, complex, touching writing.

Daniel was brimming with joy that it was difficult for him to stay in his seat. He wanted to dance wildly and bounce around the house but his injured leg wasn’t fully recovered yet so he shouldn’t. Seongwoo had sworn to scold him for an hour if he recklessly re-injured himself at the end of the note.

“He really ended the engagement. Ding dong, the wicked fox is dead, yes! I mean, well, as in he’s gone for good. So, that means…Seongwoo likes me seriously, right? And he’s officially single. He chose me and this life instead. He wants to give us a chance although it’s not sure-fire easy. So, I should confess and ask him out when he gets back to show him I understand and appreciate his efforts. He did this so I would see it clearly. This is his subtle confession. Will he be back soon? I need time to get prepared, but I also want to see him and hug him so terribly that I’m tempted to figure out how to jump in there of my own free will.”

When Seongwoo returned to the ‘shoe-hole’ apartment that he adored and cherished and felt like his true home despite all of Minhyun’s disses, Daniel was cooking some fried eggs, obviously unprepared. It had barely been an hour since he’d discovered the changed pages and he was lost in thought about how to romantically answer Seongwoo’s surprise confession with one of his own. He was so quiet that Daniel didn’t notice that he had arrived until the younger had snuck up behind him. A pair of long, slender arms wrapped around his waist and feathery lips gently pressed the bare nape of his neck above his collar.

“Hmm? Who gave you permission to do perverted things to your hyung? This mischievous troublemaker brat,” Daniel turned, accusing with a playful, delighted grin, barely able to contain his bliss to have his adorable dongsaeng back so soon.

Seongwoo giggled with an evil tint in the heavenly, musical sound. He looked like a wicked black kitten about to bite his shoulder.

“I gave permission to myself because it’s a hyung that I like a lot. So what? Are you going to punish me? Bring it on. I’m not scared of some mutt.”

Daniel chuckled, causing them both to faintly bounce. Seongwoo squeezed him closer, standing on his tip toes so he could rest his chin on top of his shoulder.

“Oh~ You’re cooking. I didn’t think you could. Are you sure it’s something edible?”

“Hey, I can do at least this much. I’m old enough. It’s not really cooking. It’s just frying. It should be edible. I think.”

“Well, honestly, I figured you didn’t know how to do that. Judging by the state of your lonely poor fridge when I first arrived.”

“At that time, I had already almost ate everything, that’s why. Give me some credit.”

Seongwoo’s hum and arching brows were doubtful. Daniel’s pout became a puppy snarl, lightly elbowing him for his lack of faith and the subtle insults.

“Still so rude after all my lecturing. I was going to say I missed you and welcome back, but I think I’ve got to cancel it this time. You aren’t acting appropriately.”

“Aw~ No fair. I’ll say it then. Properly. I missed you, hyung. I missed you way more than you did, I’m sure. Did you see what I was up to? You know how I feel now, right? You couldn’t possibly be dumb enough to not get it after all that? If you still don’t get it, I swear, I’m going to cry.”

Seongwoo could sense Daniel blushing and smiling wide since the moment that he hugged him. He’d already seen that everything that had happened with Minhyun appeared in the series. If Daniel had seen it, then he would have known everything, including how he felt about him. It wasn’t the grand confession plan he’d been hoping to plan, but at least finally everything was out in the open and clear. He couldn’t stand the ambiguity and hiding his feelings a day longer, seriously.

“Hmm. I understand.” Daniel’s murmur was soft and low, as if he were embarrassed and uncertain of how to respond.

“And hyung? Will you tell me how you feel? Or do I have to wait several more months, sticking to you like glue, trying to interpret your actions? You do realize that the biggest reason I’ve harassed you, found my way out, found you and struck up a deal to be your assistant was because I simply wanted to be nearby my crush as much as possible, right? I’ve been pretty openly expressing my feelings this whole time, but you’ve been infuriatingly clueless.”

“Hmm. I realize that. I’ve stopped being dense and in denial. I get that you like me. I understood you were confessing to me this time. I’m just embarrassed terribly right now. I wasn’t ready for you to come out. I was in the middle of calming my fluttering heart and thinking how I could respond. Now you’re suddenly here and acting like this. Go easy on an old, inexperienced man, kiddo. Take it slower. Turtle pace, not rabbit pace.”

Seongwoo whined, rubbing his nose on his back and wiggling in complaint. “Hmm~ Shiroh! Any slower and we might as well be maple syrup. Let’s go sea turtle pace not land turtle then. Tell me you feel the same, hyung who has experience but is acting like a freaking virgin. And start calling me your boyfriend, babe, baby, jagiya, something like that. No more brat or kiddo! If you don’t start from today, then I’m going back into the comic world and never coming out. Because I seriously can’t deal with this waiting and hinting anymore. If you can’t appreciate how great I am to date, then I’ll go find someone that does and live a comfortable life—”

He was forced to stop when Daniel flipped around and planted his lips over his own moving ones. Seongwoo eagerly ceased talking and pressed into his kiss as if he were starving for a mere taste, tossing his arms around his neck and holding him close. Daniel tossed down the spatula so that he could wrap his arms fully around his black, nearly crushing him in his solid as steel grip. It felt absolutely wonderful, completely right as if the world started spinning on its axis after a long period of immobility.

The fried egg was left to sizzle and burn as they kissed soft and emotional for several minutes, unable to get enough of each other, pressed up against the counter with their bodies tangled. Things were getting extra steamy, nothing to do with the heat from the stove either.

“I like you too. I want us to be boyfriends. From today or A-S-A-P. Arasso?”

Daniel peeled off his bruised, damp, swollen lips, lightly panting as he confessed the things Seognwoo wanted to hear. They pressed their foreheads together, nose tips rubbing. Seongwoo smiled sweet, bashful and wide, button nose scrunching adorably. He had never appeared so happy in any of Daniel’s recollections, comic or real life.

“Hmm, that’s exactly what I wanted to hear. Finally, you say it. Thank you. Thank you so much for asking me, hyung. Thank you for liking me back. It’s a dream come true. The one thing I’ve wanted the most. Being your boyfriend was the first serious goal I’ve ever had.”

“No, I’m the one who is more thankful. Thank you for being in my life. Thank you for pestering me and forcefully moving in with me. Thank you for not giving up on me although I’m the densest idiot in the world to not see who you were talking about all this time was me. Thank you for making me see I do like men and that age is nothing but a number I shouldn’t bar myself from a good thing just because. You made my life better in every way since you barged in here. You improved my bad habits. You made me healthier. You made me braver and more mature. I’m less stressed, sleep better, eat something besides ramen, it’s even easier to breathe somehow.”

Seongwoo laughed softly. “Of course it would. It’s not so suffocating when you don’t have piles of trash and food waste just lying around, stinking up the place.”

Daniel couldn’t deny that, which was rather humiliating thinking back on all the filth Seongwoo had been forced to see. He wondered why he had lived like such a child these many years. He’d just thought that was normal if you were a bachelor. He’d been too busy and lived alone so he hadn’t bothered about being neat or clean in the slightest. Come to think of it now though, it made him look helpless and pathetic. It was bad for his health as well.

The artist affectionately nuzzled the assistant’s adorable button nose. “To think, an eighteen-year-old is more mature, responsible, and independent than I am.”

Seongwoo nuzzled back, ruining their sweet, peaceful moment by getting sassy and testing the elder’s nerves as usual. “Well, I actually have lived on my own longer than you have, I bet. That’s why. My nanny would have exploded magma out of her ears if she had to clean a week’s worth of trash on top of all the dust. You couldn’t imagine how much dust a mansion can collect in just a day.”

Daniel scoffed, then swooped in to bite at the dimple appearing next to the corner of his curving lips. “Are you bragging about your superior status?”

Seongwoo giggled, shying away from his teeth. “I wasn’t really trying to, but if you see it as that way, then I’m sorry for being rude.”

“You don’t sound sorry. As ever, you’re such a brat in need of some re-educating about proper manners.” Daniel swerved to bite at his opposite cheek with a growl.

“I’m up for that. As long as it’s physical. Take me to the room and punish me, hyung. Take me now, and be extra fierce and harsh this time. Don’t stop at some chest caressing, try going lower to more sensitive areas.”

Daniel’s face flamed as his libido spiked out of control. With the way that he seductively spoke, circled his finger an on his back and pressed their hips together along with that wicked smirk and twinkle in his onyx eyes, he was turned on insanely. This was no normal teenager, he was a damn siren with dark magic that could drive him crazy in a mere minute.

“Yah, how can you talk like that? You’re just a high school student. That’s too naughty, I forbid that sort of talk at least until after you’re graduation!”

“Eh, stop talking about my age all the time, hyung. It’s just a number. Everyone matures at different ages. Besides, I don’t look like a high school student. Remember that you designed me off an idol who happened to debut in his early twenties. So, even if you based me on his earlier photos, then technically my body and face are anything but a student. If you mix our ages, then let’s say that I’m at least over legal age. Hmm? Totally fine to be intimate with.

I know you want to, hyung. Let’s compromise and just give in to the suffocating tension with both feel already. Stop holding back and just do what your instincts say. Like you said before, it’s not good for your health. I don’t want to see you sick again on my account. It’s about time you broke your dry spell, don’t you think? You’ve been holding back for months already. Now we confessed and we’re in an official relationship. I’m going to graduate soon anyway. There’s nothing to stop you. Hyung, I want you. Let’s be intimate before we get busy with the next deadline. Hyung, ah, you feel good…hmm, tasty…”

“Seongwoo, come on…Don’t attempt to reason through this. Or act like a cute spoiled brat. You know that it’s too early to go all the way. We just started dating. There’s proper steps to a serious relationship. You should lose your virginity when the timing is right. There’s no need to be in such a hurry. Why are you impatient and impulsive? Hey, where are you touching—! Don’t grope me like a horny pervert. What sort of teenager acts this way?”

Daniel attempted to reason and slide out of Seongwoo’s grip, but there wasn’t anywhere to escape and the young man was as persistent as ever. Seongwoo was the sort that once he set his mind to it, he got anything he wanted. Whatever it was. Not only was he a spoiled rich kid, but he was full of charms and knew how to use them to manipulate others.

He ignored all of Daniel’s protests, even the more reasonable, pleading ones. He refused to see reason, only listening to his overpowering pubescent hormones that were spiraling out of control, attacking the person he found attractive fiercely as if he were a snack. Daniel was chased around the house, dragged into the bedroom, pushed on the bed, kissed, bit, licked, and groped within an inch of his sanity. Even Seongwoo had ended up stripping off his shirt and unbuttoning his pants somehow, stroking his member outside the boxers until it was rock hard and pulsing. The artist was feverish, groaning, and dizzy worse than when he’d actually been sick. Seongwoo was pinning him, wrapping his legs around his so he couldn’t easily roll away, his hands on his swollen nipple and erratically palming his boxers while sucking along his neck.

“Seongwoo, ah, ha…jeez, okay, I give in. Just…not this way. It doesn’t feel right. I should be making you feel good, it’s your first…Let’s switch. And slow down, sweeten things up a bit. This is just sheer pornographic. I draw the line at your first time being a quickie.”

Seongwoo had no complaints about that. Rather he seemed eager to have things done to him instead, as long as it meant Daniel was giving in to what he wanted. Within a minute, he was down to only his deliciously tight black boxer-briefs, lying on his back invitingly. Daniel was stunned, his hair a tussled mess, his eyes hazy from desire, watching and admiring the lovely, slim, pearly body in front of him that was from today all his. It was like he’d come to a buffet meal of the highest class with no time limits set, none to share with.

“Unbelievable…How did I design something so beautiful? You couldn’t be real, you look so good, so flawless beyond belief…”

“I guess you have an amazing imagination plus top class drawing skills. How’d you make a body that fits your ideal type when you hadn’t seen that guy naked? It’s really your own fault, you dense self-harm loving puppy.”

Daniel joined Seongwoo in chuckling. He was lying on his side, openly admiring and lightly running his fingertips over Seongwoo’s shapely, perfect curves. He was so precious and beautifully crafted that it seemed like a crime to touch him, because he might leave a mark on the treasured art piece.

“True. I suppose I must have been into guys and just wasn’t admitting to it. Maybe this wonderful body appeared in my wet dreams since I was younger and I just blocked it out because I didn’t want to accept that I wasn’t straight. Now I don’t mind though. Boy or girl, doesn’t matter. I can only be attracted to you I think. My dick seriously didn’t work for a long time but with you or fantasizing about doing the things I saw with you, it was out of control. From the first time we kissed, I don’t know if you saw it, but I got hard instantly. That was my first unforced boner in forever. I thought I was having an issue that only happens to old men, but you came along and proved that I just hadn’t found the one I truly wanted.”

“Oh, really? You had issues getting it up? This guy? You pop one every other day around me so I hardly noticed and rather thought you were as perverted as me. Though you do a good job at hiding it. I learned your tells after awhile though. I knew for a long time that you were attracted to me. I just didn’t understand the meaning of it, because I know you dated girls before. I figured maybe you just wanted to use me as an experiment, to see if you still could do it with guys.”

“Use you? Never. I’ve never been into or tried anything with any guy. I liked you though for a long time, that’s why it happens. I like you as a person as well as the way you look, so that’s why I wanted to do physical things with you. I always thought you were gorgeous and charming. Even that nasty mouth of yours. From back before we officially met. Your character was an intriguing mystery.”

“Ah, you think my mouth is nasty? I guess you don’t wanna kiss it anym—”

Seongwoo broke off in a moan as Daniel grabbed his jaw, turned his head and forced their lips harshly together to prove his joke dead wrong. A second later, his cavern was stuffed with a searching, demanding tongue, consuming and setting fire everywhere it touched. The younger passionately responded, swiveling their tongues together furiously, encouraging Daniel to delve deeper, sometimes diving into his own and expressing that he wasn’t the sort that would always prefer to be submissive and only taking.

Daniel liked him all the more for that. It was such a turn-on when the partner he was with became aggressive and dominant, giving as much as they took, as Seongwoo had been just before. However, he had no plans to let Seongwoo do the work or control from the top. He was going to do their first time, Seongwoo’s first night as a true adult properly, making love the way a real man should, something that he hadn’t been able to do in ages. Because he knew better what he was doing and that way Seongwoo could have an amazing, hopefully painless memory.

Seongwoo wasn’t able to talk anymore besides to moan and express how good he felt and whine for his ‘hyung’, each beautiful sound encouraging his older, confident lover all the more. Daniel laid over his body, rocking their hips together in a strategic manner to excite them both and practice how to move together in a steady, well-matched rhythm later. His hands played Seongwoo’s feverish, quivering, silky body like a violin, making music spill from his parted lips. He was breathless and starry eyed, watching Daniel gently kiss and suckle every part of him form the stomach up.

Whenever it felt really good, he’d chokingly groan out ‘ah, hyung, again!’, showing Daniel subtly where he should focus on. The gyrating hip action, the friction from their rubbing members, the brushing of their shaking smooth, dampening thighs, the hot mouth on supple, quivering skin, the ticklish, dangling hair and the hands that clutched and tugged, the fingers lightly caressing or digging marks into flesh when a sensitive spot was hit and a bolt of arousal attacked their nerves, the sounds of slow sucking and the resulting pleasureful, excited moans and gasps drove the couple gradually insane.

They continued the romantic, intense foreplay without rushing to the next steps in their act of intimacy, enjoying their flight in paradise at a leisurely cruising speed. They’d been waiting for it for months, even years, and they had nothing else to do that day, so there was absolutely no need to hurry through it. Up to date, it was the best memory they shared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we've just about reached the end. This is the story's highlight where various issues come to light and get resolved, important things that needed to happen have happened, and they're officially a couple, and yay no more virgin Ong or backed-up Niel. It was a long chapter but hopefully it was action-packed! Sorry somehow the fluff and smut stuff ended up in the same chapter as the angst haha. That's because I wanted to wrap this story up in July with the number 7 which is my lucky number and all. August I will be working on a new story, leaving this one behind in July. Hope you're having a great month and been enjoying this story. Oh, and that you don't hate Minhyun/Onghwang that much here, at least Seongwoo didn't let Minhyun ever kiss him and they're eventually going to be friends again (prob I'll just leave that open to your imaginations, not really feeling like writing it out cus final chapter is all ongniel already and I kinda like it that way). Ah, by the way, there's no detailed smut because Seongwoo is a minor, I tagged it that way for a reason but yeah I don't really think it's good to show everything when he's a teenager some people might have an issue with it, though it's complicated cus he's drawn to resemble a much older man and he's also really mature for his age. So, I'll just leave the rest of that night to your imagination as well, but it indeed happened, all the way. As you will see next chapter references his bottom in pain and such. 
> 
> See you for the finale probably not next weekend but the week after Daniel's fan meeting!
> 
> <3 Raina


	7. You’re The Oxygen I Need

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seongwoo learns what it’s like to be in a relationship while Daniel learns what it’s like to be in a relationship with someone he genuinely loves more than himself. Stay tuned for their happy ending, both in the comic world and the real world. Or is that all good things inevitably come to an end?

**The next morning**

Daniel and Seongwoo were snuggling under the blankets with a laptop open on Daniel’s knees and the cats curled up napping at their sides. The sun set some time ago, twilight casting an eerie indigo-slate grey light through the windows. They were watching one of Daniel’s favorite movies, Avengers: The End Game, since he claimed he was craving to watch it again for the nth time. Seongwoo had just slowly started blinking his thickly lashed eyes, waking up from his slumber, yet another cat nap. Daniel squeezed around his shoulders and gently pecked his forehead.

“How long have we been in bed?”

“Hmm, at least four hours I guess…” Seongwoo grumbled, voice thick and husky.

The credits were rolling, signaling the movie was finished. It had at least been that long then since they’d been busy before they started watching it with some other things.

“Should we get up and eat something?”

In retort, Seongwoo hugged his waist and rubbed his nose on his naturally warm, silky chest, burrowing like a cold squirrel. “Hmm~ I’m cozy though.”

“And today extremely lazy and clingy. You fell asleep through half the movie already. I think we’re switching places now we’ve spent lots of time together.”

Daniel laughed softly, giving up for the time being on getting Seongwoo to get out of bed as he was being too precious to miss out on. He wasn’t good at refusing something that Seongwoo wanted, though that meant he was going to become even more bratty and spoiled. He was such an adorable, charming person that he only wanted to see smile and never genuinely anger.

He gazed down fondly at the younger with his pretty, comic-like eyes closed again, feigning he was asleep or planning to sleep some more because his body was too exhausted from their latest round of passionate love-making. The stubbly blonde’s smile was the most smitten, head over heels deeply in love one of the century.

After ten minutes of enjoying the amazing view he never could seem to have enough of, Daniel tickled the brunette’s sensitive places with light brushing of his wiggling finger tips. Seongwoo cringed, squirmed, and whined in complaint, acting like an entire baby and a half. Which made Daniel extremely tempted to dive down and bite his ears while slapping his pert, cute bottom.

That would start something though and he was worried already that his now ex-virgin boyfriend would be able to walk after all the booty bumping they’d been doing, even though he’d tried his best to reign in his beast and be gentle with thrusting. That certainly hadn’t been easy since it was the most fantastic sex he’d ever had, the most excited he’d been with someone intimately in years. There’d been so much insane amounts of pleasure and it was all subtly intense yet romantic and emotional that it was overwhelming for his nerves, making him dangerously at risk of losing control several times.

“You’re going to waste away if we don’t eat something soon, Stickbug. You basically haven’t eaten all day, only did lots of strenuous exercising. If you get any skinnier, I’m going to lose you when we go outside. The wind will blow you away.”

“I’m not all that skinny as a stick that the wind could carry me unless it was a tornado, but thanks for the compliment,” Seongwoo giggled, then hugged and kissed his bare, firm chest once before grudgingly getting up.

He was so slow and reluctant and stiff that Daniel could practically hear his joins creaking like they needed to be oiled. He helped by pushing up on his back then once he was in a sitting position, climbed out of bed. He slipped on his boxers and then came over, unable to help but affectionately rub and kiss the crown of the younger’s messy bird’s nest chestnut mop of hair. Seongwoo pulled that signature, epic, heart-stealing ‘hing’ face as he sighed, giving Daniel a pathetic look that read ‘I don’t really wanna get up, do I have to, can’t we just get take-out?’

“Don’t give me that face. Or I might just bite it off. Cutie. Come on, let’s get up. You’re not getting your way this time, you already agreed.”

“Hmm…don’t wanna, it hurts everywhere…I feel like I got hit by a truck…” the younger prince complained and hissed as Daniel gently tugged him up from the bed.

In concern, he wrapped his arms around the other’s slim waist and held him against his body, watching his slender giraffe legs tremble, barely able to keep himself upright.

“Are you alright? Can you walk?”

“Sure. Don’t exaggerate. It’s not like ‘once you go Daniel you need a wheelchair’ or something. You’re deliciously thick but you’re not a gigantic monster.”

Daniel flushed and grinned shyly, releasing a dorky chuckle as Seongwoo pat the front of his boxers with a playful, admiring look at his hidden jewels. He was proud of his body especially that part now because Seongwoo had said many positive comments and exclamations about how perfect and good it felt. He’d made him feel like a sex god and now he truly felt like king of the world, extremely confident and satisfied with himself, his body, and his relationship.

There was no way he could be happier with the way his life was. He had the prettiest, cutest, sweetest kiddo as his boyfriend and lover, plus he’d found out just how much of a wildcat nympho side he’d been hiding which meant that he didn’t have to be as careful and calm and innocent as he thought he’d need to be.

Seongwoo didn’t act like an eighteen-year-old virgin last night, not for long anyway. Which was why his body was probably screaming at him, making him regret all those times he’d encouraged him to go harder, longer, or rougher, or the various positions the deprived, curious innocent wanted to attempt which was a miracle that Daniel had managed to hold back his orgasm long enough to try in those three times they did it. They literally hadn’t been out of bed in almost twenty-four hours except for bathroom or snack / water trips.

“I’m worried. Maybe we did it too much in a day. I told you if we didn’t take it easy, you’d end up regretting it. I was thinking we should go out and have our first official date today but maybe you need to just keep resting and I can go bring something back home to eat…”

Seongwoo waved his hand in dismissal, wiggling his button nose. “I’ll be fine. You don’t need to baby me all that much. I just need to stretch a bit, then let’s go out. It will be good for us to leave this room and get some fresh air. It reeks in here.”

“Reeks of love~”

“And sperm.”

Seongwoo accepted Daniel’s pouty, soft little innocent display of affection kiss, then they both scrunched their noses and laughed.

“It really does smell like a sperm donor lab place in here. Let’s open the windows and put the blankets and sheets in the laundry before we go out. I’ve got spares.”

“Good idea. Now that I’m not turned on, suddenly it doesn’t smell as pleasant. Hmm, except you kinda do though. Extra musky and mixed with my natural scent like I’ve marked you…”

“What are you doing, Ongie?” Daniel laughed, looking down with exasperation and quivering as Seongwoo sniffed along his collar and neck like a curious puppy. He would sniff, hum, smile, nuzzle close, go to another sensitive spot and repeat. It seemed like he was addicted to sniffing his body.

“I dunno. Just smelling the perfume we make. Wah, it’s such a good smell. It’s warm, sweet, spicy, sensual, romantic….Hmm, I like it. We could make a fortune bottling it up and selling it.”

The elder’s face burst into flame, sheepishly brushing his neck and bringing the other in for a loose hug. They pressed their heads together and loosely embraced for a peaceful, touching moment.

“I like us together too. In every way, we’re the most suitable combination. I’m sorry that I was so dense, blind, and in denial of your feelings. We could have been like this weeks ago. Come to think of it, you’ve been obvious about your crush on me from the very beginning. I was so dense and silly.”

“Yup. I even called you hot the first day we met. And you read it too, I noticed. It was written in the first volume when you appeared at the park. Even though you weren’t there anymore, the things I said about you still popped up. I came here mainly for you, you know. I mean, freedom and not being sick is great and all. But getting a super sexy boyfriend who acts like a puppy is way better obviously. I came out here to get close to you and seduce you while also wanting to have my questions answered. You refused to read the signs until I literally spelled it out for you in the pages of the comic though.”

“Ah, but I think there’s one more question you have left, don’t you?”

“Hmm. Do I? What’s that?”

“How much do you think I love you?”

“More than the moon? More than 3000?”

“I love you 3 billion, yup. More than there are stars in the sky and drops of water in the ocean waves. I love you way more than you love me. Be my boyfriend forever. Keep living with me. Stay here, don’t go back there anymore unless it’s absolutely necessary. I miss you too much.”

Seongwoo chuckled, kissing his shoulder. “Aw, that was sweet. Fine, I’ve got no objections to that. I’d love to be your first, only, and last boyfriend. Living with you is no problem. I don’t really wanna go back but I might have to as long as you’re still writing or your readers will nag you about if I had an attack and died. There’s one thing you’re wrong about though. There’s no way that you can love me more. I literally left everything I know and risked ceasing to exist to simply see you again, you know that?”

Daniel glanced down to see Seongwoo was biting his protruding tongue like cats did after eating or drinking. Such an adorable insufferable brat he was. More lovable even than any cats he’d ever raised. Incredibly kissable and huggable. Naturally, insanely sexy as well as unreally gorgeous even in the morning. He wanted to clone him and make that other version into a plushie he could always have by his side, carry around, hugging whenever he felt overwhelmed with feelings. Such as then. He squeezed his boyfriend tight, rocking them back and forth, rapidly rubbing his nose on his forehead with overwhelming bursts of affection.

“Ah, that’s true. When you put it that way, I guess I have to give in there. I think you win this round. I’m happy to be so loved by the coolest person in all universes.”

“Oh~ Wah! Eh, how? Aw, cute. Hmm? Haha. Oh! Cool!”

Daniel rested his chin on his palm, observing Seongwoo’s adorable, soft, slightly dramatic reaction instead of the rest of the tango performance. He was sitting up-right with stars of wonder twinkling in his huge doe eyes full of innocence, his hands held up in front of his chest clapping like an excited seal pup. It seemed he was enthralled by the dancers as if he’d never seen a performance before.

Although it was Seongwoo’s suggestion they try that Argentina place which had tango performances while you ate some pricy assorted asado platter. It was meat that had been cooked over a fire for several days until it was extra smokey and tender, an Argentina specialty. Seongwoo had been dancing and singing literally about how delicious it was, unable to stay still in his chair or stop smiling even after he’d tried every kind of meat three times.

It was more enjoyable to see the once miserable, forever unamused student now be an adult full of such vivid love for the simplest things in life. He wasn’t sick, he wasn’t bored, he wasn’t wishing he was somewhere or someone else, he was no longer full of bitterness or sarcasm or negativity. He was all smiles, healthy, loving every moment that he was breathing since he’d come out of the webtoon. Daniel was proud of himself, satisfied that allowing Seongwoo to be his assistant had been a great choice. Not for himself, necessarily. Sure his life was much better with a boyfriend to dote on and have sex with and that cleaned his place and cooked for him. But mostly, for Seongwoo who was free in all kinds of ways. He felt extremely good—fulfilled—better than any sort of donation or volunteering he’d ever done knowing that he’d changed Seongwoo’s character and opinion of life.

Before, Seongwoo had sometimes wanted his disease to just wipe him off the face of the Earth because he didn’t see much point in living with how he couldn’t live the way that he wanted and was always struggling. Now, things were totally different it seemed, as if he’d affected the very core, altering his mindset, personality, and will. The Seongwoo he saw before him was so full of positivity, vitality, a strong desire to live, and boundless hopes for the various possibilities in his future.

It sort of saddened him that it was his fault for the 18 years of angst and difficulties but it eased that prickling guilt that he’d helped/been the reason for the positive changes in his life. If he hadn’t gotten pulled into that comic, if he hadn’t helped Seongwoo back then, they surely wouldn’t be here. He wouldn’t see this amazing, entertaining, beautiful, heart-warming view. He wouldn’t be feeling so much intense joy and gratefulness in his life every day having this person by his side, sharing in wonderful memories.

They were good for each other. They needed each other to be happy and mature. Even though they were from different worlds, had an age and social status gap, and there was no telling about what would happen even a week from now let alone longer. However, they could have dreams together instead of focusing on their monotonous routines of daily work/school related life. Things they hoped for and could look forward to. Such as waking up together and having breakfast the next morning. Having their second date as an official couple. Making more phenomenal, mind-blowing, emotionally intense love. Working on something they genuinely enjoyed side by side as a team, able to see each other whenever they felt like it, getting healing and encouragement, smiles creeping across their face at just a glance of the other they adored.

“What is it, hyung? If you keep smiling like that, you’re going to get stuck looking like the Joker,” Seongwoo teased with a shy smile and rosy cheeks.

The show was over. Seongwoo had finally taken his intense concentration off the dancers to notice that Daniel was staring at him with this exceptionally broad, slightly creepy grin and his hazel eyes scrunched up and with a fuzzy film over them as if he wasn’t fully in the present at the restaurant. It took Seongwoo snapping and then flicking the center of his forehead for him to come out of his daydream, shaking his head so his fluffy, golden hair waved wildly in a cloud around his head, looking very much like a Samoyed at that moment. Seongwoo fondly smiled and lightly chuckled as he reached over to flatten that poofed up strands to be more presentable once Daniel stopped moving.

“Sorry, I was spacing out. Blinded by your beauty.”

Seongwoo smirked while reaching his fork into the some hundredth chunk of meat he’d be consuming tonight as if he had a whole separate compartment in his stomach just for meat storage somewhere in that lithe body.

“Am I prettier even than those girls?”

“Uh, yeah,” Daniel said with an obvious tone like ‘duh~’ as if it was a fact everyone should know in the universe.

Seongwoo slightly bashfully yet also smugly smiled as he dipped the chunk of crispy pork into the dark brown, spicy sauce.

“Good. I still win. That’s all that matters.”

“Aigoo. This cutie patootie.” The artist reached over to pinch the assistant’s soft cheek before it got stuffed like a squirrel. “You like winning that much? You’re always the prettiest to me. I don’t look at girls for longer than a second. After you came into my life, I realized that I’m not ever going to be interested in them again. I’m Ong-centric, Ong-sexual only. I couldn’t even get aroused until I met you.”

“I know. I remember. You popped a boner that day in the nurse’s room, right?”

“No comment.”

“Eh, my memory is a little fuzzy because it was a shocking day in more than one way, but come to think of it, I’m pretty sure I saw a tent in –”

Flushing and heart skipping, Daniel stuffed a large forkful of meat in Seongwoo’s mouth. He desperately wanted to change the subject, feeling embarrassed at the idea Seongwoo had seen him that starved.

“Shh, brat. Eat before it gets cold. I’m full, so the rest is up to you.”

“Hola! Amigos~ Muey bien.”

“Bonita. Por favore. Vamos!”

Daniel and Seongwoo laughed gaily as they turned, kicked, and pivoted around their living room hand-in-hand, attempting to do a sloppy yet non the less passionate tango. Daniel knew how and was attempting to teach Seongwoo, but somehow it had turned sort of into more playing around, making the other dip, bumping chests, purposefully kicking and kneeing each other, pinching their shoulder or waist where there hands rested.

“Okay, that was fun. But let’s be serious a moment. I’m curious if you have an actual dancing ability. Can you remember the steps I taught you?”

“Sure, I can. But the tangoers? Tango-ees? What do we call them, hyung? Anywhos, the dancers said that there aren’t really steps. You just lose yourself in the moment with your partner and flow according to your moods more than count steps. We should just feel the love, slide where the wind blows~”

Daniel flushed, nose scrunching, looking down at him in disbelief from a stand still. Seongwoo had hugged his waist and was gazing at him with a silly, blissful grin, half laughing.

“You’re so greasy. You had way too much pork. I told you to go easy, but you had to order enough for four people.”

“Well, it tasted just like jokbal! You know how that’s my favorite~”

“Look like a squirrel, act like a cat or a seal, clingy like a koala, affectionate like a puppy yet you are a total carnivore. Feels like I’ve brought every escaped zoo animal to take shelter in my home.”

“Hehe. Isn’t that great? Tons of animals wrapped into one semi-human that can talk to you when you’re bored. You don’t have to spend money or time to travel to the zoo. We can cross that off our list of dates to try.”

“True.” Daniel found Seongwoo’s cute giggle contagious, chuckling as he affectionately bopped his nose and pinched his shiny, rounded apple cheek. Then, he admired his artfully sculpted features while tenderly brushing his pretty star cluster moles.

“Did you enjoy that? Do you want to go out regularly to places like that?”

“Yup! If we can make progress on the deadlines of course. I won’t let you slack on your work and have to cram the last day. It’s not good for your health. Instead, I’ll be your incentive. I know you want to go on dates and have lots of sex too but you’re not allowed out of the house or to even touch me until you met the goals that I set.”

“Wah, you’re such a spartan slave driver. I guess you wear the pants in this relationship? Even though you’re a kiddo who hasn’t even been in one before?”

“Yup! Age isn’t anything but a number, honey. I’m much more mature and responsible than you in all ways. If I just let you do as you please, poor Suzy will lose all her pretty hair from the stress. Someone’s gotta manage this impulsive, free-spirited puppy. Might as well be me, since I’m your assistant and living with you, now your significant other. I’ve got rights and responsibilities. You know that I don’t ever do any job halfway, right? I go full out and work hard.”

“Hmm. Speaking of hard…The way you are right now got me turned on strangely. Maybe I like the idea of being controlled by a gorgeous, demanding perfectionist…It sounds kind of hot.”

The younger half-moaned, half-laughed as Daniel sucked and teethed his sensitive neck, hands sliding into the back of his shirt to gently caress his skin in a sensual, tempting manner. It felt so good that he swore a moment he ascended to the heavens.

“I thought you wanted to give me a dance exam?” he murmured in a breathy complaint, though his hands were digging into the other’s broad, muscular back and sunk into his hair, holding him closer showing that he wouldn’t reject anything physical.

Daniel treated his skin like the sweetest jellies he was addicted to and often snacked on during work hours, slurping sounds like when water went down the drain or a baby suckled on a bottle. For certain, he was going to be peppered in even more kiss marks, having to wear a turtle neck when they went out because if he used bandaids as he had today then he’d probably get mistaken for costuming as a mummy.

“Daniel…” the younger half whined, half gasped, shivering violently and sinking his fingernails deeper into his intense, charismatic, naturally sexy boyfriend. “Ah, hmm, you’re going to start something…”

Abruptly Daniel pulled off, running his hands through his loose, long golden strands, his handsome face flushed and lips swollen, eyes hooded and dark with molten desire. He attempted to calm himself taking deep, shaky breaths and exhaling slowly.

“Sorry. I got excited for a moment. You must be so sore it’s hard to walk or sit. I shouldn’t be thinking of doing it again. I can’t control my urges well around you. It feels like I’m reverted back to those horny teen days. Shame on me. I’m much older, I should take care of you and put your feelings first.”

Seongwoo stared at the guilty elder warmly with a gentle, loving smile. For a long moment he watched his boyfriend attempt to control his lust demons for the sake of his health. It was incredibly endearing and touching. He’d never dreamed he would someday have a person that selfless and adoring in his life. Daniel was truly the perfect boyfriend material. His chest physically ached due to the fact it was bursting with love, affection, and gratefulness. He stepped forward and took his slackened hands and moved them back to the standard tango position.

“Let’s pick up where we left off then. Dancing time, my bonito. Vamos~”

“Por favorrrr~” Daniel purred, sending trickles of heat like chocolate drizzle down through the brunette’s nerves, making them malfunction.

Daniel stood in awe mere moments later, following Seongwoo leading from the ‘lady’ position and merely responding to his graceful, flamboyant moves. It turned out that not only had Seongwoo picked up what he’d taught him but he was excellent at improvising and he was either a naturally good dancer or he’d been completely secretive about his dancing lessons in the past. After he thought about it, he figured with his nature and his mischievous character that it was more than likely the later. Seongwoo practically danced circles around him as if he were a professional, subtly seducing him with his passionate moves and come-hither expressions. Daniel growled, catching Seongwoo’s shapely leg mid kick, slamming their fronts together, draping his thigh around his hip.

“I don’t think I can be good anymore. You’re tempting me on purpose, you evil sexy brat.”

Seongwoo smiled wickedly in triumph, satisfied and flushed beautifully, sparks of desire and mischief setting his onyx eyes dark grey.

“You caught me, oh no~ Whatever shall I do? Will you eat me, Mr. Big Bad Wolf?”

“Damn right I will, you greasy, tasty lamb,” Daniel growled, pecked his mouth and then dived for his neck while reaching for his other leg.

He hiked the light, tall guy around his waist, easily holding him up in the air, then strode with wide, determined, quick steps to the bedroom. Seongwoo’s squeals got choked off, mixing with sultry, erotic moans as his neck was fiercely bitten and sucked on, their erections brushing against each other with every step, creating delicious friction that set their skin ablaze.

_Author’s note : RIP Seongwoo’s bum-bum_

“He’ll see it if I put it here, right?”

Seongwoo put a note on the lamp shade next to Daniel’s bed. It was written there that he’d be going back to the comic for a day or two but he didn’t want to disturb Daniel’s much deserved sleep after that week’s hard work, so he was leaving quietly like this. They’d just completed the deadline and as he thought it was hard to control not only Daniel but himself. They’d ended up having to cram more than usual because he hadn’t planned out their week well enough. They’d been on one too many dates and couldn’t seem to stop keeping their sex life to a one time a night minimum. There’d been several times where they’d gotten work started late and ended up fooling around in the middle because of something so simple as they caught each other staring at some place they shouldn’t be with ‘that’ kind of look.

Daniel reverted to a horny teenager like himself while Seongwoo’s inner devil had been fully released, surprising even himself with how much perversion and energy he had. Thus, their sex-addiction became the reason Daniel had passed out the second he’d hit the bed after their work finished at 5 am.

It didn’t seem like he was going to be able to be woken up anytime soon. He’d probably sleep for a full day at least. However, Seongwoo couldn’t afford to wake him up even to say goodbye. He needed to get this business taken care of and then return to help by the middle of next week at least. It was a shame he couldn’t say how long it would take since time flowed a bit differently each time he went to the webtoon world, the most recent times it was somehow slower than previously, suggesting that all the travel and changes going on inside the world might be glitching the system.

The brunette stroked the blonde’s tussled waves back and nuzzled his wide forehead ever so gently.

“I love you, hyung. To the moon and back. Be back as soon as possible. Try not to miss me more than I’ll miss you,” he whispered.

After saying a peaceful, quiet goodbye, he grabbed a duffel bag he used to bring back things he’d need bit by bit from his home in the webtoon world so that they wouldn’t need to spend their money on him. Then, the handsome, well-dressed assistant disappeared into the swirling, zapping, pixelated portal that appeared above the large drawing tablet.

An hour later, one of Daniel’s cats was wandering around the bed and then spotted the colorful paper dangling off the edge of the lamp shade. She bounded over and captured it with her teeth, taking it to another room to crumple and shred for fun. She could understand some but obviously couldn’t read people speak so of course she had no idea that it was an important message her owner needed to read.

Daniel spent many hours of that night after he woke up in a dreadful panic. He couldn’t figure out where Seongwoo had gone. There were no notes, no messages, no clues around the house. He hadn’t come home and he wasn’t any of the places outside that he usually visited. He regularly checked the webtoon for some sign of him, expecting new pages would appear if he was active in the shadow world. There was no guarantee of that though. Not even 50% of what Seongwoo and Minhyun did in the shadow world popped up in the past, so it wasn’t a reliable source of information.

He flipped through the already completed pages from that morning for the thousandth time, chewing on his tattered, bleeding nails and feeling extremely frustrated and anxious.

“What if he is hurt? What if he had a spell? What if he didn’t go there by his own will but because Minhyun abducted and dragged him? What if Minhyun changed his mind about letting him go and is using his influence and dark connections to force him to get married? What to do, what to do, where are you, Seongwoo, are you okay or not…Give me a damn sign, brat…”

The artist knew that he should just keep waiting for something to pop up or Seongwoo to return but his paranoia made him too worried to be that rational. 

“Should I just go in and see for myself? I think he’s not in this world but in that one but it’s not like Seongwoo to go without telling me, so…”

At that moment, Seongwoo was visiting his grandma at her impressive mansion, sitting in her ‘office’ which looked something more like a fancy kimchi museum. He sat on one of the four large leather sofas circling a glass, rectangular table, sipping on steaming green tea in European porcelain cups. He’d been there yesterday as well, but their talk unfortunately hadn’t gone well. As he expected.

He’d come to tell the head of his family and official guardian a few things that he’d decided in his life which would have great consequences in their lives, especially in regards to her future plans. Originally, she’d wanted him to take over the company and she’d also been the most encouraging of his arranged marriage to Minhyun continuing since she liked the idea of merging with the Hwang’s company and using the stocks that Seongwoo would get to her advantage to develop and expand.

She was no normal old lady, just as she looked. Her hobby was not something like baking or cross stitching. She loved getting richer and owning/controlling as much of the business industry as she could. She liked being high in status and showing off her wealth, using the best products and experts to look fifteen years younger than she was. She’d ran a much smaller company with his grandfather who had inherited it but had gradually taken over it because she had the business sense, the drive/ruthlessness, and the innovative visions which were necessary for a CEO, unlike her husband who had no such qualities.

His grandfather had sort of hated the company down the road because he felt she loved it more than him. And she had proved that so on several occasions, in Seongwoo’s opinion at least. She loved the company more than her family, even her own children. That was his honest impression since he was a teenager. She’d marry it and take it with her to hell if she could, he bet.

The things that Seongwoo knew she’d done to raise their small company up to be the massive multi-functional corporation it was were both impressive and yet unspeakable and showed a lot about her character. Shrewd, calculative, selfish, domineering, manipulative, destructive, unempathetic, cold. She was purely business focus and so rational that she’d probably stomped out every bit of sensitivity or emotional bit once in her brain in order to get ahead of the pack in this ruthless competitive society.

Since her intentions with him appeared, he’d attempted to appeal and he’d also tried to be stubborn, then he’d just been rational in his own way by ignoring her and focusing on his life while sort of going along with what she wanted and in other ways not at all which his uncle had helped with. Now he was here to attempt to mix all of these approaches for a final, decisive attack, determined to visit her every day and battle things out wit for wit, stubborn against stubborn, negotiating and insisting his way until she caved.

“Okay, so you can study something else on top of business, even first and go abroad if you prefer. I can agree to that much. You can think about possibly managing the company later, maybe do some interning to see that it does indeed suit you like I’m saying. I’d still prefer you take over your uncle than other subordinate options I have because you’re much sharper and cut-throat, not so sensitive and emotional in your decisions like myself. You’re more the appropriate leader type.

I simply can’t approve of artist as your career. It’s such a waste of your talents and time. You won’t become famous and even if you did that doesn’t help my company at all. You may pursue it as a hobby or side job. But there’s something that gravely concerns me. Why do you refuse to marry Minhyun all of a sudden? Have you guys had a fight? Just cool off, wait a bit, and then have a sincere, calm talk. You’re close friends since ages ago. You’ve always got along so well as my sources all say. He’s handsome and you told me you’re gay, so…”

“I don’t love him that’s why. Doesn’t matter how handsome or gay. If I don’t like him, that’s that. I refuse to get married to a friend just because it’s beneficial. I dislike the idea of arranged marriages. Things in this day and age are different than your time, Grandma. It will only end up in divorce because I feel something is missing and incomplete. I love someone else. Not that I’m thinking of marriage yet. But I want to be with him and take my chances where it goes.”

“Oh, now we’re getting down to the nitty gritty! So, this is all because of some romantic fling you’re having on the side, huh? Let me just say. Sure, romance and love it all seems great when you’re in the middle of it. But it’s not lasting. It’s temporary and in the end, it won’t benefit you but just give you crippling heartbreak and drive you to have a different sort of comfortable, easily controlled marriage.

Relationships built on love change and that causes you headaches and stress. However, business relationships do not. Especially between friends who have similar ways of thinking and personalities. Love can fade or disappear, then your relationship will be next to nothing but a shell you wish to rid yourself of. It’s much better to have a relationship that won’t change for the worse and brings you benefits, that seems hallow but is actually solid and reliable. Maybe I wasn’t super happy with your father as some flings I had when I was younger, but we were content and comfortable. It was peaceful and we understood each other and nothing changed. We never once discussed the idea of divorce.”

“No, it did change. Just you didn’t realize it or you refuse to admit it. Grandpa came to love you, as I heard it, but you have no love in your heart left for him. You must have loved and been burned before and never got over that person, so you coldly shut everyone out, putting your relationships in easily definable, predictable boxes. Because you’re a control freak.”

For a long moment, the older woman went into silence, staring down at her cup of tea and fingering the decorated fragile cup. She faintly smiled, there were hints of bitterness, regret, and sadness there.

“Yes, I suppose you’re right there. Sharp as a knife you are. Much too sharp. With quite a wicked tongue that’s good for spearing kimchi. Hmm. I wonder if it’s alright to share my foolish younger self’s story with you…”

“Please, Grandma. I want to hear it. I can’t understand why you’re so obsessed with me marrying Minhyun when I don’t want to otherwise. If we keep going like this, I might truly detest you for all eternity. We are the only family we have left, Grandma. Let’s not become enemies. I don’t want to be your pawn and business partner only. For once, can you just treat me like your grandchild? Tell me your story so I can attempt to understand your concerns. Trust me, you’re not going to get through me otherwise.”

She sighed, set down the cup gently on the saucer, and for a brief moment genuinely smiled at him. She seemed older, more worn out, but also much more approachable and human than he ever recalled. His grandma was quite a terrifying, intimidating woman that could turn you into an ice sculpture with one unpleasant stare. He was nothing compared to her at his most chic, aloof, uncaring state actually. She had the nickname of Ice Queen, articles several times a year questioning about if she had a block of ice in place of a heart when her ruthless decisions and bold, almost dictatorship methods of running her company and its subsidiaries, even those related to her or old friends.

The mansion she lived in was equally neat, grandeur, and completely empty and cold inside. A perfect reflection, which was perhaps why Seongwoo had refused to keep living there out of his own discomfort. For a moment though, Seongwoo felt a rare flash of warmth that filled the empty pockets of frigid air in the mansion he’d visited several times usually against his will or out of obligation when she called or when she made a move to subtly interfere with her life in her bulldozer ways.

She proceeded to tell him about a painter that she’d fallen in love with, the person that had made many of the old paintings she had on display in the hallways, some of which were her when she was young and beautiful and actually knew how to smile. She had wanted to marry that person but her parents had been against it because they didn’t consider painting a stable job. She’d originally gotten married to his father as her parents wanted and took over this company in order to have a stable job herself and become rich.

She planned to use her hidden funds to support the man she truly loved herself later on in life so that she could be with him and so that the country man’s dream to be a city painter could continue. She couldn’t meet him often and they kept their correspondences secret from her husband and family who thought she’d broken up with him as they wished for nearly a decade. However, things changed once she accidentally became pregnant which hadn’t been her intention. It was her official husband’s child, she was almost certain and a DNA test later proved it.

Her lover couldn’t stand the idea of separating their family and told her that they should end things because it was the right thing to do. She didn’t want to give him up, but she also couldn’t bring herself to abort or abandon her child. She became gradually more wicked as depression, self-hatred, guilt, rage at the unfairness, regret, longing, loneliness mixed in while continuing to control the company by her husband’s side who was delighted to have a child coming.

Seongwoo’s dull, robotic, golf obsessed grandpa changed somehow after she had his child, suddenly he seemed to love her and went out of his way to care and be sweet and show interest in her. Even the way that his eyes got when he looked at her was something completely different than the last ten years, which threatened to change the nature of their comfortable, easy-going business arrangement relationship.

No longer did he have affairs with servants or coworkers. He became dedicated and attempted to wee her to love him sincerely. Even when she broke down and confessed her sins, he pleaded for her not to get a divorce and attempt to love him since she’d lost that person already, for the sake of their unborn child.

For two years after she had her baby, she sunk into deep post-partum depression. She hardly spent more than an hour or two with her baby per day. His mother was taken care of by wet nurses and his grandfather whenever he wasn’t busy with work and attempting to get his wife to smile or laugh.

She couldn’t forget or stop pining for the lover that she’d lost, eventually she found him using private detectives in another country. His grave, that was. He’d been blown to bits in a terror incident. It took her another decade to get over her shocking loss, focusing on her company and being a mother but sort of in autopilot mode. She didn’t come to love her husband the way that he wished she would because she was crippled with grief, regrets, and stuck in memories with someone completely different, but she did appreciate, rely, and show her vulnerable sides to him since he was so doting and attentive.

During the times that his mother had been a teenager was the closest that his grandma and grandpa had ever been. They had a close yet complex relationship somewhere between best friends and lovers. They’d had one more child, this time intentional. For the most part, her life raising her kids was a happy one. Though when they left, she had more time to herself to do nothing and she felt lonely, so it was hard for her once more.

To avoid sinking into depression again and thinking too much of the love of her life she lost which might hurt her husband who still believed someday she’d come to love him the same way though he had long since stopped complaining about it, she sunk more into her work, wanting to expand the company further. The reason that the company did so well was because of his grandma running away from her emotions, resulting in shutting out things.

“I never shut out your grandpa though. I wish that he wouldn’t have loved someone rotten, damaged, and twisted like me since then he would have had a happier, more fulfilling life. Bless his soul, he never gave up on trying to win my heart. I gave what I had left, honestly. He was good and I wanted to do good to him. I loved him as much as I could love anyone after my huge heartbreak. I tried but it didn’t work out perfectly. I guess I was meant to fully ove only one person in my life.”

“Do you regret it? Giving in to your parents’ wishes? Or keeping mom?”

“How could I not have some regrets? Sure, I do. I should have chased after love and found some other way for us to be happy pursuing our dreams instead of settling out of fear. I should have thought more and not been so impulsive. I’m sure there were better options that I could have tried. Then maybe he wouldn’t have died that way, never getting to be married, never having children. I don’t regret getting pregnant though, not really. Your mother was amazing. She’s a gift, a fallen angel. We used to be so close…”

“Until you disapproved of my father.”

“Yeah, right. Just like you, she chose love over a stable future. That’s my curse. The punishment I receive for not making the right decisions, I suppose.”

“So, do you think then…You’ve learned a lesson and regret, so…Will you approve….” Seongwoo asked hopefully, sitting on the edge of the couch with his hands gripping his knees.

She smiled coolly. “Perhaps? First, I’ll call the arrangement off since you said his family already knows anyway. It’s basically too late for me to step in and fix what you’ve turned into shambles. Time will tell if you’re sincere about this other person though. I have yet to even meet them, so I cannot simply give my precious only grandson away without knowing if he can care for you properly. If he’s even worthy. If you love and want my approval, the first thing to do is to stop hiding him and making excuses.”

Seongwoo sat back and smiled widely, happy with just that much. It was one of the first days in his life where his grandma hadn’t stubbornly refused to allow what he asked. She’d agreed to consider about his relationship and also cancel the arranged marriage and she’d even agreed he can pursue what he wants to study after graduation which was coming up in a couple of months, albeit without guarantee she’d approve it as a career. These were huge triumphs. He’d been fighting for one thing for ages.

Although she was stubborn about accepting the possibility he would never inherit her company and she seemed on the fence about allowing him to date someone he loved freely, she wasn’t completely against it ready to go to war and interfere immediately. This was progress. More so than he’d expected. It was a big win for him. And it had only taken two days.

Her playful, plum-tinted grin dropped into a familiar wrinkled scowl. “Tch. I hate that smug look. Tone your smile down fifty percent. It’s blindingly pretty and annoying, not to mention inappropriate from someone with your status.”

He tried to but it was difficult so he covered his mouth with his hand and then busied it with eating scones. They kept randomly catching each other’s gaze, his grandma’s soft, warm, amused and affectionate. Just like him, she was an amazing actor with perfect control of her expressions but failed to hide their feelings through their eyes.

This trip was a wonderful experience. He felt close to his grandma again, like when he’d been younger and she’d have random spurts of kindness and warmth because she had a soft spot for kids. He remembered briefly how although she acted cold and snappy with his mother, his mother never seemed to take it fully to heart as if she knew that deep down the woman still loved her and eventually she’d get over her being hurt and worried, always trying to breach the rift in their relationship that her choice in marriage had driven.

It might have happened someday if only his mother hadn’t died so young. He recalled his grandma had cried throughout every day of the funeral and been hospitalized for a month after that from stress, shock, and fatigue. Surely, she regretted that she hadn’t given in and been nice to his parents’ much sooner so they could have had more memories together instead of the mere handful. That probably changed her a little, the reason she was a bit lenient and playful with him even though in his teenage years after losing his family he was an obnoxious brat always refusing to cave to her wishes, doing the opposite of what she suggested sometimes just because he was angry about how she’d treated his mother and her way of thinking in general.

It felt good to realize that Daniel had been right about her. There was a lot more to her and she did genuinely care about him, though she had strange ways to express it if at all. Why were adults so complex like that? Why couldn’t they just be honest and let the ones they love do as they wish instead of assuming what was best and pushing them so hard? He wasn’t going to be this way. He was going to learn from adult’s mistakes and make sure to follow what his heart desired full speed ahead. Starting with being more expressive, pursuing his love for drawing, and not letting anyone come between him and Daniel.

_*ding, dong, ding, ding, ding, dong*_

“These days, I have so many unannounced visitors. Why do I even have a secretary if no-one bothers to call them and make an appointment? This is my resting time.”

“Hello, ma’am! Nice to meet you! My name’s Daniel. Is Seongwoo here possibly?”

The quite young-looking old lady holding the door open blinked at the bowing, brightly smiling, rather sloppy and brightly dressed blonde who very much resembled the boy she knew was Seongwoo’s first love since she always had his life privately investigated. To understand as much as to protect him. She’d been the one that helped Minhyun take care of that problem child who dared bully and break her precious, pure, nothing but good grandson’s heart simply because he was a little different.

She bristled at first, barely controlling her urge to slam the door on that familiar, irritating face and tell Seongwoo that no way in hell was he allowed to see that man, over her literally dead body, no way. The rational side ruled over her sensitive side though, as usual. She sharply trained her eyes up and down, noting various details that suggested she’d been mistaken. This was indeed not that person. It simply seemed that big, puppy-like blondes were Seongwoo’s type.

This one was quite friendly with a dreamy, pure smile and proper manners. It seemed like he’d been raised well and had a nice personality. There was a lot of kindness and gentleness in his eyes that suggested he wouldn’t intentionally harm a fly even if he hated them. Seongwoo had said that he loved this person. He must have a lot of special qualities then. There’d been no-one up until now that had made Seongwoo come to directly fight with her to get approval. He’d never once made a peep to her about being against an arranged marriage with Minhyun. Here she’d figured they might have something more than friendship since it was the one thing in life he didn’t fiercely bark at her about, her little adorable, feisty snauzer of a grandson.

_Hmm, I guess my grandson has fine taste not only in fashion and interior. He’s very handsome and seems strong. This sort of person, as long as he’s not a total loser with a super low paying job, might be able to properly protect him. Which is as much as I could ask for. Keep him safe and smiling, which has been difficult for anyone._

“He might be. It depends. Who are you? Are you his lover? Introduce yourself immediately, don’t leave out a single detail.”

“Um, er. Yes? I’m Seongwoo’s boyfriend. Or wait, maybe he wouldn’t want me saying that…”

Daniel flushed, scratching furiously at his head and shapely, charming eyes shifting down for the first time.

“Name?”

“Kang Daniel.”

“How old?”

“I’m a few years older…” he admitted, shifting nervously on the balls of his sneakered feet.

“I figured so. You don’t look like a high schooler. Well, Seongwoo isn’t even nineteen yet. I hope you keep that in mind and progress slowly with your relationship with full respect, if you get what I mean. Careful on your level of intimacy. Or there might be some bigger, nasty people after you causing some unfortunate events. Understand, puppy man?”

“Uh…yes, I mean no! I didn’t and won’t do anything until he’s an appropriate age. I fully respect and care for him. Always. Er, wait, maybe I’m not supposed to talk about intimacy…”

She laughed, finding him amusing, especially how he was talking to himself and said things so honestly. She liked his gaze. He was a straight-forward and sincere person, she could tell. He was good, innocent, and trustworthy at least in character.

“What’s your job? How long have you been together? How’d you meet? Have you guys been living together? I heard Seongwoo’s not at home for extensive periods of time but it’s not his usual friends that he’s with.”

“We met by chance in the park earlier this year. He was sick, so I brought him to the nurse. It hasn’t been long since we’re together officially. I’m a comic artist, professionally. Since a couple years ago. It’s a stable job, I promise. We have been living off and on together. He comes to my place in the city, learns art with me and commutes back and forth to school.”

“Grandma? Why are you interviewing someone at the door? At least, you should take them into the foyer…Daniel? What on Earth are you doing here?”

Seongwoo appeared, wrapping his arm around his grandma’s frail shoulders, nearly two heads taller than the petite woman. He was smiling but not nearly as much as after he saw Daniel at the doorstep. The huge, delighted smile he wore then was blinding enough to light the whole mansion’s first floor.

The blonde waved, explaining awkwardly and flushing deeper, “Um…getting investigated to see if I’m good enough for you, I suppose. Hi, there. You left but didn’t say where you’re going or when you’re coming back. I got worried, thought maybe someone dragged you here and put you in danger. So, yeah, I’ve been looking around for you and as a last resort, I came here…”

“Ah, is that so? I left a note on the lamp. You didn’t see it?”

“Nope, I didn’t see anything like that…”

“Hmm, maybe it fell off and flew under the bed. But you came all the way here because you were panicked something happened to me? Aw, such a sweetheart. This is perfect timing. Grandma was just on the fence about approving of you, but now she must be a little more tipped on our side.

He’s really this caring and straight forward, Grandma. As you can see, he’s tall, handsome, strong, and friendly too. He’s extremely talented. His drawings are so lifelike! You’d be amazed by how beautiful and realistic the things he created are!”

He cheekily winked and Daniel nearly rolled his eyes, wanting to reach out and smack him for saying something risky like that. Since he’d literally drawn everything surrounding them and indeed it was very lifelike at the moment, since he was also a character in the story. No-one else could become self-aware; just having two was making the world glitchy enough that it unnerved the creator. Anything that put Seongwoo’s existence did.

“Now that you met and made a good impression and Grandma asked way more questions than she should in my opinion, I’m going to get going. With my boyfriend. We’ll go back to his house. I’m going to officially move in there. I’ll bring the cat with me. You don’t need to send the maid there, anymore. Unless you want to clean up the house and sell it.”

“Hmm.” All that the grumpy looking woman responded was a grunt.

“You approved, right? You like him, right? I can stay with him, right?” Seongwoo cheered, squeezing her shoulders and rubbing his cheek on her head. She continued to grump and grimace, pushing him off and lightly swatting.

“Enough, cut out the aegyo already. You’re nearly a grown man. Act like one. Having a bit of fluff in your cheeks is no excuse to revert to childhood.”

They said their formal goodbyes, side by side and bowing deeply to her with warm, blissful, thankful smiles. Before she shut the door, she said sassily, “Do as you wish but don’t crawl back when you regret it, whining about you need money or a job. I’ll be checking up on you, as usual, so not too much mischief.”

Daniel stared at the door, looking dumbfounded, then put off.

“Was that a goodbye? What’s rotting in her bed, really? She’s such a cranky old bat. Nothing like you.”

Seongwoo took his hand and pulled him off the grand, marble doorsteps. He looked back at the mansion with a smile on his face as they strolled through the fancy English style gardens.

“She’s not all that bad. We’re quite similar, maybe that’s why we fought so much yet still can’t hate each other. She is complicated and scarred. She has her reasons and she means well. You’re right that she does care about me. Just like I was, she’s terrible at expressing her softer emotions.”

Daniel stared back at the door, scratching his chin and eyes shifting nervously. “Do you think she hates me? I couldn’t really tell if I’m saying the right thing. Maybe I said too much…”

“If she hated you, trust me, she wouldn’t have said a word to you. She would have shut the door in your face.”

“Rude!”

Seongwoo merely laughed. “Rich people thing. Also, an Ong thing, possibly. You’re on her property without permission, so it’s sort of her right. Plus, she probably knows about Seonho and noticed the resemblance.”

“Why did I ever make that asshole character look like me, really? Such a stupid moron I am.”

Daniel hit his temple repeatedly with his palm as self-punishment. Seongwoo merely watched him, chuckling and squeezing his hand.

“She approves and she likes you already. I can feel it. You did a good job, hyung. That was a difficult situation to be tossed in but you handled it like a pro.”

Daniel sighed with relief and smiled brilliantly. “It’s a miracle! I feel like I just aced the entrance exams! Freedom from stress!”

“Yup. Now I can live with you and date you without anyone to hold me back. Physically, emotionally, in any sense. It’s time to go get kitty and the rest of my clothes.”

“Neh? You were serious about that? Wait, are you not planning on coming back here? Like, ever? You’re officially going to move in with me?”

“Yup!”

“Seongwoo, wait, wait, wait…”

Seongwoo explained his ideas to Daniel as they gathered up the rest of his favorite clothes in his house and got Kitty settled in her kitten house for portal travel. Since Daniel was soon planning to skip to a scene of their exams and then to their graduation, there wasn’t any reason for him to be in the world. The students at the moment were all studying only for their exams. They weren’t getting lectures of anything new and they weren’t receiving homework. They weren’t even required to attend classes since it was all remedial class or self-study.

He’d already said to his teacher that due to his health worsening supposedly, he wanted to study at home, getting a leave from class for the rest of the year. Which meant Daniel didn’t have to draw him in any of the class settings. The reasoning would automatically be in the story or if it wasn’t he could write it in as a mention with Minhyun to any curious student that asked.

Since it made sense and it was extremely well thought out as expected of his genius that was able to think ten steps ahead in seconds, Daniel could do nothing but approve. He ruffled his boyfriend’s hair with affection and planted a noisy kiss on his cheek.

“You’re so smart. That’s a great idea. I’ll be happy to do it. You can spend more time with me…”

“And you don’t have to worry about Minhyun attempting to steal my heart anymore. Right? I know exactly why you came here, mister. I see right through you like crystal. You’re so obvious,” Seongwoo teased, poking his chest and subtly sidling up to his side, asking to be tenderly held.

Of course, Daniel had absolutely no reason to deny the student what he wanted. They were alone and they were officially dating. Hell, they were soon going to be living together permanently. He eagerly hooked his waist and brought him close, laying his head on his shoulder and sliding his hands to his stomach.

“Okay, well, I won’t deny it. He still makes me nervous. I don’t really trust him. I mean, he hit me as soon as he saw me and he came here just to get you back. How can I be alright with you meeting him until we know for sure that he has no more feelings?”

“Aigoo, this poor jealous insecure puppy boy. Such an adorable boy you are.”

Daniel sulked and grunted, showing he didn’t appreciate being treated in such a condescending way. Seongwoo was even patting his head and baby talking, asking to be spanked that brat indeed was.

“I’m older than you, in case you forgot. Significantly.”

“Ah, were you? I forget. It never really seems like much. Because you act like such an immature baby sometimes.”

“Yah, that’s it, you brat with a capital B! You won’t get away with any more of that mouth.”

Seongwoo yelped and tried to bolt but Daniel held him tight and gave his little round bottom several light smacks.

“Goodbye forever! Thanks for the good times. Mother, Father, if your spirit is still there, I’m doing well so don’t worry. I’m going to a place where I never feel sick and I’m happy every day! Wish me luck. Be well~”

Instead of being like Grandma, I’m going to be like Mom. Although she had a short life, it was a very happy, fulfilling one. That was because she followed her heart, choosing the one that she loved over everything else. That’s exactly what I’m going to do. I have no idea if I might soon fade out or poof out of existence. Maybe our worlds will collapse now that a character has entered them and trying to be a regular person. I only know Daniel is who I love and I’m going to follow him and be by his side no matter what until the ends of the both worlds. I won’t live regretting any part of my short life anymore!

Goodbye for real, bye bye!”

The student energetically waved his hands at his house with a broad, effervescent smile. Daniel was carrying both the duffle bag and the house because he was concerned. As long as they were in this world, the threat of Seongwoo being struck with sickness was very real. He was considered frail and weak here and there wasn’t much that he could change about that fact. Though he had plans to write in a hospital scene that would cure him for good that was saved for his birthday coming up next month. Healing him and righting his past wrongs as an artist was going to be his biggest gift and he was sure that Seongwoo would be so happy about it that he cried.

For some reason, this big decision in Seongwoo’s life that occurred in the shadows came to be written a few minutes after their return with all the luggage and the new family member for the furry girls to play with. It was signaling the happy ending to the love-triangle, side story of Seongwoo, Daniel and Minhyun. Seongwoo getting freedom from his grandma, finally ending her control of his future, ending the arrangement with Minhyun although they were still going to be friends, stating his plan to pursue the arts as a career even if it meant getting disowned, and Seongwoo choosing the artist hyung as his partner, going off to move in with him and live happily ever after basically. This conclusion meant the ongniel shippers were going to be extremely happy campers when this chapter went out.

The couple hugged each other as they smiled softly down at the page that showed them as characters walking away from the house side by side, seeming extremely content and peaceful. The whole scene was bright and cheerful, overall suggesting things were hopeful and Seongwoo’s life was no longer full of gloom and pitiful moments. He’d found his happiness and a purpose to live to the fullest. The beloved character full of misfortunes that everyone was rooting for and secretly biasing even though he was just a minor character was going to get the happiness that he deserved. It was win-win for them all and the artist was satisfied very much so with that part of the story. Seongwoo deserved all the happiness in the world and he was going to make sure that it continued beyond that final panel. He wasn’t finished making up for his mistakes.

**One Year Later**

Daniel flipped through the pages of the ongoing sequel chapters he wrote in monthly installments. Instead of slapping ‘the end’ on the story he’d been working on for years because they had no idea if they would lose everything once that happened, he kept the story opened and continued with random mini stories. He was going on the tenth now.

After Seongwoo had permanently left the webtoon, there’d only been two incidences where Daniel had drawn him. The first time was the exams and the second time with the school for graduation. Minhyun had been the valedictorian, thanking his best friend in his speech for keeping him grounded and giving him reasons to smile and laugh in strenuous times. Surely, he meant something innocent but Daniel didn’t like this because it wasn’t something he’d intended to write out. That jerky fox found his way to change his own story and defile the author like Seongwoo had after becoming aware.

He realized then that his characters staying aware could be seriously dangerous. Thankfully, Minhyun hadn’t said anything about their engagement or confessed his undying love which would have made him want to go in there and throttle him.

The most recent time that he’d drawn Seongwoo after graduation was in college. He was majoring in art, minoring in business in one of Seoul’s most prestigious schools. He was fully healthy and happily pursuing what he liked to do, though there wasn’t any specific mention of what sort of job he was striving for. The business minor was to suggest that he hadn’t completely abandoned his grandma’s wishes and that it was possible someday he might have some connection to that company, if his art career didn’t work out or there was some issue with his grandma or uncle that required him to assist or temporarily take over.

He’d somehow drawn the rich kid even cooler since he was more mature, responsible, and he actually smiled and laughed now though he had that familiar sort of gloomy, aloof, in his own world aura while he was drawing or painting.

Seongwoo lived with a roommate in the dormitory which was certainly difficult and amusing for others to get adjusted to. He was living off his allowance since his grandma refused to fund more than his tuition fees, slight punishment until he ‘came to his senses’ about his future. Food, board, books, entertainment, school supplies—all that had to be taken care of on his own.

Daniel wrote it that way because Seongwoo said for certain that’s how his grandma would be, she was stingy like that and she’d also want him to learn to be a more responsible adult, to see how difficult the world could be when you didn’t have unlimited cards to swipe at his own discretion as he’d been living since his family died.

Daniel had drawn the ugliest, nerdiest, most unsociable person he could as a roommate since he didn’t want any more threats. Luckily, Seongwoo had no interest in anyone in the school. He mostly kept to himself, focusing hard on his studies.

Thus, the week or so Seongwoo was gone to college to write the sequel story for him as they’d planned, Daniel was by some miracle able to sleep easily. When he came back, Seongwoo said that it was really fun and he was happy to have finally had that necessary life experience, though he threatened Daniel that he better never suggest publishing any final test scenes because that sounded horrific as the number of stuff they had to memorize was ridiculous even compared to the entrance exams.

When he wasn’t working with Seongwoo on reviewing the story and coming up/drawing out, the artist was working on a BL story that would be published sometime in the future. It was a slow-going progress because of Seongwoo, ironically. They’d do things together for inspiration of his rough drawings, regularly going on dates to places he was considering including. They’d eventually stop enjoying it and want to rush home to clear the fiery tension between them, resulting in work getting put on a back burner as they spent the rest of the night going back and forth between the kitchen and bedroom.

Both were still as insatiable as horny, deprived teenagers, possibly worse because they had no specific deadline schedule that kept them distracted and their urges fully in-tact. They basically had no reason not to screw so they screwed whenever they felt like it, which happened to be often.

Even Suzy, the editor, wasn’t on Daniel’s back much about getting the new works published. She seemed delighted to see that he’s happy with someone, doing something else besides staying at home, sleeping, drawing, and eating ramen. She hadn’t given him any pressure since it was his first venture into BL and she wanted it be a great story that would make them richer, simply checking in once a week to ask about his progress on the new story and if there was anything she could help with in terms of materials, direction, or ideas if he was stuck.

Seongwoo requested whenever they talked that Daniel put her on speaker phone, having a hard time being trusting and not possessive with anyone remotely pretty. If Daniel refused, he would go into intense sulky mode and ignore him for the entire day, threatening to go live in the webtoon world for a month and go flirt with every attractive person he bumped into on campus in revenge. He was so adorable that it was tempting but he would get a hemorrhoid from stress if he really went through with his words (he was such a stubborn brat that he wouldn’t put it past the other).

Daniel worked out more since his schedule wasn’t so tightly packed and he had a boyfriend to impress and keep by his side. Seongwoo got hotter as he put more attention into become a fashionable Seoullite and due to the fact he was a mature adult who could do as he pleased. This resulted in them both being even more attractive than normal. With the free time, no pressing responsibilities, and spending lots of time around each other it was inevitable that sparks would constantly fly and spread bursts into flame.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit much…” Daniel grumbled, flushing as he looked down at their tropical patterned clothes, his super loud lemon and orange colors.

He’d never worn something like this but Seongwoo insisted that these suited them. He kept going on about how he wanted to try what it felt like to wear a couple look which he’d seen on campus and dramas often. Daniel hadn’t been all that against it since he needed to write a scene like that in his new story. However, the choice of clothes he couldn’t say he was fond of. It wasn’t subtle at all. Going around like this would be begging for attention, screaming to the world that they were homosexual, different, subjecting them to unwanted judgement and criticism. He’d thought Seongwoo would pick out something simple like black and white t-shirts with the same tiny classy logo. Not ones that looked as if they were tourists at a beach resort.

“No, not at all. I think it’s cute, colorful, trendy, youthful…”

Seongwoo started listing off the various reasons, going on one of his tangents. Daniel was used to it but as ever it sort of tired him out. As admirable as it was how fast he could talk and how long he could go without taking a breath, it gave him a headache and zapped his energy. He shut him up successfully with a light, affectionate peck.

“Alright, alright. I get it. If it’s what you want and like, then I’ll put up with it and zip my lips. Just stop frowning and go pay. I’m gonna go to the bathroom.”

“Tada~”

“Aw, aren’t you the sweetest.”

“Yup, I got a bee sting on the way.”

“Huh?” Seongwoo dressed in a black button up with pink and purple tropical flowers tilted his head in confusion as he carefully accepted the small bouquet of flowers Daniel surprised him with.

The artist hadn’t gone to the bathroom at all. Instead, he’d popped over to the nearby flower shop he’d noticed while they were wondering the shops for nice t-shirts to try on, thinking Seongwoo would like to be surprised with flowers. As time went on, he got more and more of these romantic ideas as if he’d been bit by some love bug and the symptoms were doing cheesy things you usually only saw in movies. He liked to see Seongwoo smiling and feeling touched and shy, which made the slight embarrassment he felt doing it totally worth it. He enjoyed that look of pride and wonder in those marvelous galaxy eyes which suggested Seongwoo was thinking that he was with the most perfect boyfriend in the world.

That feeling of satisfaction and security in keeping his favorite boy’s feelings were worth every penny and flush. He’d rarely done things like that for girls because now he realized, he hadn’t loved them nearly as much, his pride had been more important than their happiness. He hadn’t cared that much if they were remotely upset or bored of him. With Seongwoo, it was the opposite. He’d probably go bungee jumping in only boxers in winter if that’s what he wanted. Anything to protect that precious smile. Something like pride or money hardly mattered.

Daniel explained as Seongwoo blissfully sniffed and rubbed the silky, fragrant, vivid flower petals.

“Because bees make honey which is as sweet as any food gets.”

Seongwoo snorted, then started to sneeze as getting close to the flowers made pollen tickle his nostrils. Between cute sneezes that nearly lurched him forward so Daniel had to hold onto him, he playfully scolded and insulted him.

The assistant peeked up at Daniel with a faint amused smile while rubbing his pink button nose. “You pabo.”

The artist grinned broadly without a speck of shame or offense. “Yup, I’m an Ong-pabo indeed. A huge one. Can’t ever be cured. Totally fine if I’m not.”

Seongwoo happily looked down at the flowers, then slid his hand from Daniel’s elbow downward until he reached his hand, linking their fingers snugly together.

“Even if there was a vaccine, I wouldn’t take you to get it. Ever. I’d break and dump every bottle. Stay that way. Always love me and me only. Like crazy.”

He said this while looking at the flowers only and wearing a shy, tiny smile. Then he started walking down the hall, yanking the stunned blonde after him.

The almost inhuman squeal came out of the overwhelmed, blushing furiously fanboy as he blankly stared after the cool man dragging him as if he hadn’t just said the most flirtatious line so casually.

“Aw, how could I ever stop? You’re so adorable. You know what, let’s choose another pair of shirts to wear on our next date.”

Just outside of the small shopping mall was a river with a trail for them to ride rental bikes down. They wore black shirts with colorful planets and stars on it as they rode bikes with baskets until they got too tired and sweaty, then they bought some ice cream cones from a vendor, sitting as close as possible as if they didn’t already scream ‘happiest couple in the universe, gay and totally proud of it’ while licking up the chocolate and vanilla spiral towers.

They sat in comfortable, content, peaceful silence, licking, sometimes sharing, their arms casually linked and hanging over the opposite’s knee with their thighs pressed together while watching the passerby and the flowing river and the idly drifting white clouds in the bright blue sky. Seongwoo squinted as he observed some advertisement boards across the river, the sort that noticed and appreciated the tiny artistic details of whatever world he was in. Daniel was able to learn things and notice more things that made his life more interesting, colorful, and meaningful thanks to his observant, sensitive, genius gremlin.

He raised up his hand to shade Seongwoo’s eyes, worried that he might get wrinkles on his perfect milky forehead from all that intense squinting. Seongwoo continued to observe with those emotive, dark eagle eyes for a minute. Then, he pulled down Daniel’s hand, signaling he didn’t need to hurt his arm anymore for his sake and went back to licking his forgotten melting chocolate ice cream.

“If you had to define love as some sort of catchy slogan, what would you say?”

Daniel was way beyond used to Seongwoo’s rambling and insightful questions out of the blue. It hardly phased him after nearly two years knowing his real self. Such an intuitive, creative oddball he was but that made him so much more quirky, special, and endearing in his opinion. He sort of looked forward to the surprise questions that would be thrown at him instead of dreading them or wanting to block his ears from hearing them. They were like puzzles. He felt as if there should be some sort of correct answer he needed to provide but usually Seongwoo just wanted to ponder aloud and discuss something more complex rather than demanding answers for things. It was another subtle mark of his increasing levels of maturity.

“Hmm. If it’s us, then…Something like a ‘love like oxygen.’”

“Oxygen? As in air? Love that’s like breathing?” The younger sounded intrigued by his idea, sort of impressed because he hadn’t expected that Daniel would give him something innovative and deep like that.

“Yeah, what I mean is it’s as necessary as breathing. Yet it happens simply, it’s also a natural function we do unconsciously. When we are together it feels right and natural and we get through the days easily without much conscious effort; things just work with us like I’ve never experienced with others. We need each other to be healthy. Having each other in our lives, though we didn’t know before, somehow that makes us healthier, it feels easier to breathe, and thus we’re happier. In your case, it’s literally easier to breathe now. Since your sickness is gone.”

“Hmm, this makes a lot of sense. I agree. I really like that. Our love is like oxygen. Natural and necessary. I’m certainly not only healthier with you, but so much happier. Every day compared to before, I’m so happy to be alive because I’m with you and I know the day will be good. I feel lighter, no longer bitter or gloomy or tired. Never do I have any sort of dark thoughts remotely. You became the fresh, calming, cheerful air that I desperately needed in my life to breathe properly. Thanks to you, I can not only survive, but life became so worth living.

Although there’s lots of reasons now for me to enjoy existing, the main purpose of being here is still you and only you, hyung. I love you. And in case I never said this and you might still have some hidden regrets with how I blamed you before and all, thank you for creating me.”

Seongwoo snuggled into his arm, holding it firmly, nodding and smiling with approval at his idea. Daniel leaned in to kiss his forehead gentle and long-lasting several times before responding in a low, sweet tone next to his ear, lips purposefully tickling the tip and making it heat.

“Aw, I love you more. Thank you for becoming aware and forcing your way into my life, you endearing troublemaker. Although there’s times we bicker and you infuriate or annoy me, I’m grateful to have you in my life and you changed it and me in so many ways. You’re my purpose for existing now too. Work I continue to make money for us and also so you have an outlet for your dreams more than simply to have food and a home now. You are more important than anything to me. I can’t imagine my life without you. If you ever disappeared, I would draw you in every future comic and then find a way in there simply to see you, even if you had no idea who I really am.”

“That’s reassuring but it sounds exhausting and sad for you to go through, so I hope that never happens.”

“Should be fine as long as we don’t ever put an end to the story you came from, I suppose.”

“I hope so. But, you know, as long as I get a couple more months or years with you, then I think all my wishes will have been fulfilled. I’ll be living in bliss and ready to go with a content smile and no hatred in my heart. All I ever wanted during my school days was to not be sick, to pursue a career with art, and to have small moments of happiness. Even just a year was fine, I simply wanted to be normal. I’ve really received gifts beyond that. I am simply grateful for every day I wake up still sleeping next to you.”

“That’s good to know, but let’s stop the gloomy talk. You aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. I won’t allow it. Ha, you look so cute!”

Seongwoo pouted, scrunching up his nose that was now dotted with vanilla ice cream. “Yah, this mutt! It’s dirty!” he whined, then squealed and complained some more, slapping the blonde as he dived in and licked him. “Yah, what are you doing that for?! Hyung, ew! Stop!”

Daniel pulled off once his nose was clean and damp from his saliva. Seongwoo looked livid, face flaming and steam coming out of his ears nearly. Daniel grinned cheekily.

“You always call me a puppy, so I’m just acting like it. I’ll oblige for today only. What do you want to play next, master? Woof woof~”

Seongwoo huffed and rolled his eyes. “I swear, you’re such a handful. I’m the one who gets more annoyed by that childish behavior. You’re lucky you’re damn adorable.”

“Hey, now, mister brat. Just because you’re nineteen, don’t you think you’re taking advantage too much of your adult privileges? That’s the twentieth cuss word you’ve let out this week. You know, I only approve of that in the bedroom since the way it doesn’t match with your pretty, innocent face is super erotic, but we’re in public. Zip that naughty mouth or I’ll make out with you in front of all these people, I don’t care. You’ve been officially warned.”

Seongwoo immediately closed and sucked in his lips, showing slight signs of guilt. Then he sassily stuck out his tongue.

“Do it again, I dare you. I’ll bite it off.”

Seongwoo didn’t listen to his warning of course because he was mischievous to the core and loved to toe the line of danger, especially with Daniel involved. He prepared his ice cream and stuck out his tongue longer, wagging his head side to side obnoxiously. When Daniel dived in to take a snap at him, he shoved the rest of the cold chocolate ice cream directly in his face, making the lower half of his boyfriend’s skin seem like he’d applied a mud pack. Then he ran off cackling evilly to go wash his hands in the public bathroom nearby while Daniel groaned and shouted.

“Yah, Oncheongie, shincha!”

“Try and catch me if you can, hyung~ Or maybe you’re too fat from all that ramen to? Ha ha ha!”

_To be continued…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for sticking around to the end of this tale of two worlds, however many readers there are left! I had fun writing this. It was a little bit of a challenge but since I organized a lot of the plot before writing and decided not to take any sort of direct quotes from the story, it’s much easier than Click and full of my own interpretations. These dramas are seriously great and so is the comic that I was inspired from. The stories are interesting, the endings are happy, there’s not a lot of ridiculousness, the writing and art/filming is terrific. I highly recommend if you haven’t seen/read through them yet. The webtoon is called “Oh, My Assistant.” The dramas that deal with the comic and real world mixing are W and Extraordinary you. You can easily find with English through Google. If you want more of this sort of thing or got curious about them after reading my story, it’s a perfect time to check them out while you’re between Magenta contents and waiting for Seongwoo’s drama to come out.
> 
> I’ll be working from August on writing a new story hopefully posted in September! Stay tuned with my Twitter account : @NuuGuSeYONG Thank you always for supporting our boys and myself and love to hear from you whether in comments or messages, scientists. Stay healthy and fangirl happily! Don’t let anyone stop you from shipping or stanning who you want ^^
> 
> <3 Raina

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to this new chaptered story! For a long time, I’ve wanted to do a comic related story. I’ve had this saved in my workshop since last year, only started working on it this year after almost all my other projects were done. One reason I wanted to try these sorts of characters was because Daniel is good at drawing and they’re both said to look like comic characters come to life since ages ago. I read a lot of ongniel-esque webtoons and thought it might be interesting to mix both worlds, here you can see them as characters and as regular people with jobs. 
> 
> This story is a combination of ideas inspired by the webtoon Oh My Assistant! And some of the plot and scenes involved in Extraordinary You and W, which are Korean dramas. You don’t need to have seen or have read these stories because I’ve just roughly borrowed ideas. I do recommend these if you want to read something comic romance related. I think they’re interesting, funny, entertaining, cute, dramatic, and a bit unpredictable. The dramas have a bit of mystery in them and Oh my assistant has some hotter stuff in it than I will be putting in my story (because Seongwoo is 18 in this story and Daniel is in his mid 20’s that’s all). If you have time, those are great ways to kill it! W is so intense though, be warned, it’s partly thriller so it’s a bit violent and graphic. But Lee Jongsuk is such a hottie *drool* it’s so worth watching. 
> 
> Thank you for giving this story a chance! I hope that I could hear how you think about it. Comments are like vitamins that encourage the writer to put more effort and time into their updates. So, the more you comment, the better the story is. Well, it’s up to you~


End file.
